[lowglow]

> Hacker News comments don't require the blood, sweat, and tears involved in writing a 1,000-word well-edited essay.

Some people do take the time to write well thought out replies.

> Hacker News comments aren't used by the owning website for potential profit.

I'm going to disagree. HN profits GREATLY from your participation.

> Y Combinator as a brand is likely hurt by HN comments anyways

Not likely. Comments from an engaged community (no matter how cynical at times) still drives traffic, and that is a powerful in and of itself.

[untog]

"The HN crowd" has become an online meme for man-child Silicon Valley programmers. So I'd say there is at least a danger of that overflowing to perceptions of YC - just not for anyone YC probably cares about.

[dasil003]

Really? My perception is that "the HN crowd" is known for being pedantic know-it-alls criticizing every minute detail of anything. "Man-child" seems much more Slashdot/Reddit/Digg/4chan plus the rest of the internet.

[yen223]

I like the irony of a person talking about pedantic know-it-alls, via a comment that dissects the exact meaning of the phrase "the HN crowd".

[angersock]

It's not irony--it's merely illustrating the point.

[dasil003]

There's nothing pedantic about it, what I'm saying is that's a gross mischaracterization, not a precise meaning that I'm subtly dissecting.

If I wanted to be pedantic I would point out that even if your impression were correct it still wouldn't be ironic.