We don't moderate HN that way. I know that contradicts the default cynical view, but people should replace that view with the following alternative cynical view, which is more accurate:
(1) HN's only value to YC is the community; (2) the community only comes here to the extent that it finds HN interesting; (3) therefore, to optimize HN's value, we have to optimize it for being interesting. Moderating for parochial interest (e.g. suppressing things that some $ingroup doesn't like—VCs or whoever else) would make HN less interesting, so we don't.
We also don't do it because (a) it would be wrong and (b) it would feel bad, but those concerns don't belong in a cynical argument. YC's business interests, however, do belong in such an argument, and it's very much in YC's business interest to keep this community as happy as possible. That's a sort of miracle if you think about it—a freak of economic nature—so we should all enjoy it for as long as possible.
p.s. The OP was originally killed by a software filter—those are tuned more aggressively for new accounts. Fortunately other users vouched for the post, which unkilled it long before mods saw it. That's the vouching feature working as intended. See https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html#cvouch.
Hi dang ... I know this is meta but if you put this comment in a page linked at the bottom of HN, we can point confused users this text without wasting as much of your time. Of course, those that truly believe in conspiracy theories will either assume you're a disinformation source or in-the-dark regarding your bosses true motives. You can't really fight that.
As an aside, thanks ... to a large degree I enjoy this community because of the effort to keep the discussion civil (sometimes embracing debate over argument) and that I can learn at least a little about fields outside my own. It's much appreciated.
(1) HN's only value to YC is the community; (2) the community only comes here to the extent that it finds HN interesting; (3) therefore, to optimize HN's value, we have to optimize it for being interesting. Moderating for parochial interest (e.g. suppressing things that some $ingroup doesn't like—VCs or whoever else) would make HN less interesting, so we don't.
We also don't do it because (a) it would be wrong and (b) it would feel bad, but those concerns don't belong in a cynical argument. YC's business interests, however, do belong in such an argument, and it's very much in YC's business interest to keep this community as happy as possible. That's a sort of miracle if you think about it—a freak of economic nature—so we should all enjoy it for as long as possible.
Past explanations in case anyone wants more:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23284262
https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so...
https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...
p.s. The OP was originally killed by a software filter—those are tuned more aggressively for new accounts. Fortunately other users vouched for the post, which unkilled it long before mods saw it. That's the vouching feature working as intended. See https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html#cvouch.