[DrewADesign]

I think anything that mentions Apple in a negative light gets reflexive upvotes.

I use both Apple and Android ecosystems, so I’ll occasionally participate in normal user conversations about features, how-tos, etc. Posting anything about the Android ecosystem, unless I was talking about Samsung features I disliked using, is no more or less likely to get down/upvoted than anything else I post about any other technology. Using any tone more positive than a negative-leaning neutral when referring to any Apple product reliably collects a handful of downvotes, and often a negative comment or two. Same thing with negative sentiment and upvotes. I’ve never seen such a passionate dislike of a corporation among a small number of people. Even with famous brand loyalty rivalries like Ford/Chevy in the 80s and 90s it was more mutual. It wasn’t like 99% of drivers not giving a shit, .5% of Ford users being smug, and 2% of GMC drivers just being super mad at a product they don’t own.

[freedomben]

I don't think you're wrong, but what's especially interesting about this is that up until just a few years ago, it was completely the opposite. Giving any criticism of Apple would get so many rapid/reflexive downvotes that it often killed the comment before many people even got a change to see it. I experienced it myself a number of times. Having been reading HN now for ~13 years (I lurked for years before starting to participate), that's been my number one dislike about HN is the complete inability to have objective discussions about Apple. At one point I even wrote a quick browser extension to filter out posts that had Apple in the title because it was so nauseating. Ideally the pendulum wouldn't swing, but instead would just settle in the middle, but alas that just isn't human nature.

[tshaddox]

> Giving any criticism of Apple would get so many rapid/reflexive downvotes that it often killed the comment before many people even got a change to see it. I experienced it myself a number of times.

I’ve never found myself in any online community that meets that description. Certainly not HN, and HN hardly seems big enough to have Apple fanboy niches that you could accidentally find yourself in.

In the heyday of Steve Jobs’ Apple there was certainly a lot of praise here, but also constant prominent complaints about Apple being overpriced, or not open enough, or too litigious, or having too many fanboys.

I’ve seen way more complaints about Apple fanboyism than actual fanboyism. I’m genuinely curious how you could find yourself in one of those communities by accident.

[DrewADesign]

Same. I have always found people talking about the hoards of rabid Apple fanboys but I’ve just never seen it in the wild. That’s even having been critical of Apple countless times over the years going back to the mid 90s even before Slashdot, let alone OS X. I’ve obviously seen the odd Apple fanatic out there but less frequently than , say, Linux evangelists or zealots for any given gaming platform over the past couple of decades or sports teams or cult band followers. Maybe in, like, the Apple subreddit? Brand subreddits are always where fanboys live for everything.

I think it’s a combination of underdog vibes and confirmation bias that people have adopted as a community identity.