[noduerme]

There are a few I'm in that really moderate. One is for owners of old Datsuns. One is for pedal steel guitar players ($5 per year, just to keep out the junk). That's okay if you're running a PHP forum with a couple thousand users, a few dozen concurrents at most. Modding this thing as one or a few people? That's a whole 'nother animal.

[peoplefromibiza]

> Modding this thing as one or a few people? That's a whole 'nother animal

But does this make HN truly unique?

I don't think it does.

If the OP said "among the forums I'm in HN is the only one that ..." I'd have nothing to object.

[noduerme]

To me it's the one thing that truly does. I've been here ten years and I think the moderation is the unsung reason it's survived and manages to keep going. It's actually not obvious at all how personal and deep the moderation is until you get on the wrong side of it. If you've never been banned, it's like the invisible protocol that keeps communication flowing smoothly; you don't ask what that protocol is if it doesn't break down. It's quite subtle, at times almost sublime in that it's capable of weighing humanity against dread/mob/internet. So in my observation over many years, I think that is definitely what has made this site unique.