Ask HN: Why can't I comment on HN ads?

[afhdshufdufdo]

I just saw a post about a job at Meteor on the front page of HN (Meteor hiring Engineers at Large (meteor.com)), but there is no way to comment on HN about it. I think it would be a great opportunity to ask questions about the job and have those answers shared with others.

[tptacek]

It used to be possible to comment on YC job ads, but people used that capability to unmask stealth-mode companies, posting competing non-YC job offers, or start unproductive flame wars.

The ability to post job ads directly to the front page of HN is a YC perk, as is the right to do it without allowing comments on the ads.

[gregcohn]

If the mods are genuinely interested in what's best for the HN community, I think a discussion about the appropriateness of this YC-only advertising model is in order.

[dang]

Okay, shoot. What do you think is appropriate?

For a long time the policy has been that only YC cos can post to /jobs, but once a month we have whoishiring threads which are open to everyone. It doesn't seem an unreasonable balance to me, given that YC funds HN and asks (almost) nothing else of it [1]. I also like that it's completely clear and up front. But I'm interested in opposing views, if you'd like to share them.

[1] Re that "almost": the other YC-specific privilege on HN is that founders' names show up in orange. (PG did that years ago when there were beginning to be too many YC founders for them all to know each other.) Unless I'm forgetting something, that's literally everything.

Edit: several years later, in 2017, we added Launch HN posts (https://news.ycombinator.com/launches). Those get placed on the front page like job ads do at first, but after that they are subject to upvotes and open to comments.

[logn]

I agree. It takes a lot of effort to run HN, so allowing YC companies to post ads justifies the cost. I'd prefer YC-only ads as I think it would be too spammy for anyone to advertise. This makes it a nicer perk for the YC companies too.

Also, regarding no commenting on job ads, I think this is better for HN. Otherwise, the attention of HN is thrown into threads that are promotional spots.

I think another benefit of HN is that YC keeps its name relevant to a great many potential entrepreneurs.

[karangoeluw]

Email them.

[afhdshufdufdo]

We could replace HN with a mailing list also, but I'm not sure that would solve anything, would it? HN is about discussion, and the inability to comment makes it spam, rather than a topic.

[greenyoda]

Sorry, but YC owns HN, so their companies' job ads aren't "spam". If they posted their ads to your web site without your permission, then they'd be spam.

[karangoeluw]

Job postings are not a place for discussions.