[amadeuspagel]

> The most dangerous thing for the frontpage is stuff that's too easy to upvote. If someone proves a new theorem, it takes some work by the reader to decide whether or not to upvote it. An amusing cartoon takes less. A rant with a rallying cry as the title takes zero, because people vote it up without even reading it.

Paul Graham, What I've Learned from Hacker News[1]

[1]: http://www.paulgraham.com/hackernews.html

[chaorace]

Worth noting... he says this to contrast his surprise at how well the system works in the paragraph immediately prior:

> I once thought I'd have to weight votes to keep crap off the frontpage, but I haven't had to yet. I wouldn't have predicted the frontpage would hold up so well, and I'm not sure why it has. Perhaps only the more thoughtful users care enough to submit and upvote links, so the marginal cost of one random new user approaches zero. Or perhaps the frontpage protects itself, by advertising what type of submission is expected.

[hnfong]

He just explained why facebook and instagram feeds are just an endless stream of cat videos and scantily clad girls.