If any of what you claim is true, I am an idiot and you are a genius.

>when there is no way to become a moderator, people seek status and power elsewhere

This is such an odd way to look at the world, I would need quite a bit more explanation. Not everyone is ambitious and competitive.

>HN survives because of similar aspiration to be seen as that smart person in front of a VC audience

Many of us (you included) participate here without any connection to our 'real' identities.

>Facebook and Twitter are waning not because of trolls, but because they have signaled a nannying supervisory role

I haven't seen this study, and my own anecdotal evidence says the novelty is wearing off.