On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.
Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic.
Downvoted but you have a point. Why is there no moderation with regards to topical content on HN? Why should HN be a place for pop-sci articles and repostings from the likes of the Economist, LA Times, BBC, etc. r/startups has more content pertaining to - you know - actually starting a technology business than HN does. HN lately reads like newsclippings sent to me by my grandma.
You should understand that "my mom" and "my grandmother" are commonly used to denote technical illiteracy/incompetence and inability to keep up with the latest technological advances. This usage remans an unchallenged bastion of both sexism AND ageism -- a double whammy!
Proper usage:
* This app is so easy, my mom could use it!
* This article is easy to follow and avoids too much jargon -- my grandma would even understand most of it!
Why is there no moderation with regards to topical content on HN?
As per the posted policy when I joined HN, this would have been topical. (It has changed since.) "Anything that would be interesting to hackers." I don't mind at all if the occasional pop-sci article comes by, so long as they don't all do so unfiltered.
Ironically, this comment and the one it replies to are distinctly against the moderation policy, as per my understanding.
Once upon a time, we weren't supposed to downvote to disagree. Then there was a capitulation, IIRC, and that became kosher. Now, I think things may be back to where we started. I don't keep miniscule track of changes to the moderation policy. (Maybe I should?)
What you call "off topic" has been very much on topic for HN for a long time. The guidelines clearly say what is on topic, and it's more than "start up stuff".
> On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.
That sentence has been in their since, well, ages.
On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.
Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic.