[sp332]

Typing "@dang" does not actually do anything. Write to the mods using the Contact email at the bottom of the page.

[godelski]

Sure it does. It allows dang to search posts for his name without getting results that conflict with the actual word dang. Plus it's pretty common usage in places and your eye is drawn to that allowing you to recognize it's a name and not just a word. Pretty useful where people use handles and not actual names. I mean yeah, HN isn't a "smart" website, but I wouldn't say the @ doesn't do anything

[j33zusjuice]

I thought I saw dang comment once that they wrote a script to find those mentions.

[wellthisisgreat]

Completely unrelated by I just wondered if GP knew that “@“ doesn’t have any functionality but used as a sort of etiquette symbol.

[22c]

I figure most people on HN know that @dang doesn't do anything and it's shorthand for "dang, if you happen to be reading this, [...]".

[foobarian]

But... how do we know that @dang doesn't do anything?

[ImAnAmateur]

Dang himself says to send in an email. I never wrote down the address though...

[sp332]

Again, it's the Contact link at the bottom of the page here.

[cgriswald]

It seems pretty dang useful to me to make it clear when you're referring to the username.

[OJFord]

As a non-American, I always read that 'dang' as the moderator, and then it takes a second.

Relatedly, I was here many years before I realised (via that NYT or WSJ or whatever it was profile) that it's 'Dan G'!