[ushakov]

hey dang, first of all, it is very brave of you to admit that HN has a elite group of users who can downweight (reorder) comments and thanks for confirming that my comment's position on the page was indeed manipulated by those outside forces

i'd like to ask couple questions:

- why aren't regular downvotes enough to moderate the conversation?

- what is the selection process for these users, do you make sure they are unbiased?

- do any users, who currently possess said abilities have any connection to YC or companies that YC have funded?

- do you review the comments these users are downweighting to make sure the act is legitimate?

- will you punish users who disregard the downweighting rules (such as the case here)?

you also admit that this thread should have been moderated less, as it is about YC-company

if so, then why haven't you still reversed the downweights on my comments to fix the rule-breaking behaviour of your shadow mods?

[dang]

It isn't 'brave' - none of this is secret, and I'm happy to explain things.

In my experience, though, it isn't worth the time and energy to respond to hostile cross-examinations. I'm interested in satisfying the curiosity of good-faith users, and this feels more like an interrogation. That's no fun and does nothing for the community.