[ChainsawSurgery]

I think it's just the inevitability of any site that starts gaining mass appeal. It's the heat death of the universe: you can try and stop it, but entropy will increase no matter what. Sure, zealous moderators can be a catalyst for it, but it was going to happen spontaneously anyway.

People who contribute to sites like reddit enjoy feeling like part of a community. It's hard to feel like you're part of a community when that community starts becoming millions of people. Really hard.

Sure, things like subreddits help - but only slightly. Subreddits that are worthwhile tend to become default subreddits after awhile, and then you're back to square one. Without extremely heavy-handed moderation (and really, you're just stemming the tide at that point), it's hard to feel like you're not lost at sea among people appealing to the lowest common denominator.

And sure, it'll probably happen to HN too. Maybe not, maybe HN is niche enough to keep staying niche.

But unless you have a vested interest in a site like reddit, you might as well accept it and enjoy the ride while it lasts.