[hackuser]

The author overlooks some clickbait:

* What's the deepest hole ever dug?

* The man who quit money

* The Incredible Degredation of Hacker News

etc.

The question is, was HN ever much better. Perhaps some front page listings from 1, 5, etc. years ago would help.

[taprun]

1 year ago: http://imgur.com/2TxgOhr

5 years ago: http://imgur.com/jliGkON

[hackuser]

Thanks. Of course we don't know if we're looking at representative samples, but I'd say the 5 year old front page was better.

I'd pay for a very well-curated site, with excellent discussion. I wonder if a paywall would increase quality of participation? Owners and members might be less tolerant of low-quality content.