[jeffreyrogers]

I upvoted you because I don't like that criticism of YC seems to get an instant downvote on HN, however, I disagree with you and think that the reasons put forward for stopping the ideas threads are fair and valid, even if one can hold a different opinion.

[minimaxir]

There's a difference between a criticism of YC and a kneejerk YC-is-a-conspiracy comment.

One could argue that the Idea Sunday threads would be good for YC: good ideas would lead to good startups which YC could later fund. But there weren't any good ideas.

[krapp]

I suppose that depends on what YCombinator considers valuable about HN.

While I understand the desire to optimize a site like this for 'quality', I don't believe it would be fair to gauge the merit of threads like those (the idea threads or the screenshot threads) based on how much of the content generated might be of value to YCombinator, or even (as dang might put it) their intellectual gravity or novelty.

The act of presenting ideas and discussing them is a creative act which adds value to the community, albeit perhaps not to YC's brand identity as a nexus for brilliant thought-leaders and innovation. Not everyone here expects, or even desires, to ever interact with YCombinator outside of this forum.