dang has a different style than pg did but I really don't think that's the issue. The site is big now and has absorbed a lot of people fleeing Reddit and Twitter and they've brought that culture with them. dang's moderation has continuously been evenhanded and well applied. The site has changed despite his efforts, IMO.
I hope this doesn't sound like 'sucking up' because it's certainly not intended to be that, but I have been continually impressed at how good a moderator dang is. And more than moderation, he also 'curates' the site well, often adding links to when the subject or even the same article has been discussed before, etc.
But moderation of a popular forum is a Sisyphean task, and worse, it seems that gravity increases over time in this form of the task, making rolling the ball up the hill increasingly hard and not just endless. That sounds bleak but I think the solution is that eventually all forums must be abandoned, however good they once were, and new places found. I expect this to happen with HN eventually too, even though it's had a pretty good run so far.
I don't think one can easily compare HN to other forums, so saying the results are predictable is a bit harsh.
I have been in many irc channels that were extremely harsh on cluebies, but all the flaming turned into a sport by itself, and drove away from the content. The same goes for usenet, many subreddits, and Twitter.
I think HN is doing amazingly well after such a long time. It would be guesswork to say how it would end up with a less kind moderator. I for one would have left, but perhaps I'm too kind.
It is annoying that people spread misinformation, but a quick scan of a user's comment history often gives a good indication of their credibility.
> I don't think one can easily compare HN to other forums, so saying the results are predictable is a bit harsh.
Well, I predicted them at the time (and IIRC commented as much), and that's been borne out.
> I have been in many irc channels that were extremely harsh on cluebies, but all the flaming turned into a sport by itself, and drove away from the content. The same goes for usenet, many subreddits, and Twitter.
You can definitely go too far. Kind is better than harsh all else being equal, and you should never reward cruelty for its own sake.
> I think HN is doing amazingly well after such a long time. It would be guesswork to say how it would end up with a less kind moderator. I for one would have left, but perhaps I'm too kind.
For me HN inherited an amazing community that has since gradually declined, and almost all visible moderator interventions have had a negative impact. I certainly think e.g. nudging out Chris Stucchio did more harm than good.