Why was my account rate limited solely for commenting – substantively, on-topic, and in an intellectually gratifying way – about incels? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18012416
Why was this thread collapsed solely for saying "I only see depressed men on /r/braincels, not really much hatred?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18012771
I am becoming increasingly concerned that it's impossible to comment on HN in a way that goes against the commonly-accepted viewpoint, even if it's true. And I have decided that if this is something that is truly worth sticking up for, then I should be willing to sacrifice my account to do it.
HN used to be a place that I could go to express views that may or may not match reality, and if it didn't, it would simply be pointed out why it was false and that would be that. But now that YC has become Big Business, that is suddenly not good enough. These are not rose-tinted glasses. I remember.
I have made repeated emails to hn@ycombinator.com asking about the situation and have been ignored. I understand that the mod team is busy. However, it is difficult to constructively contribute to a community lead by someone who enforces rules in an arbitrary way with no explanation.
And to be clear, I'm not above the guidelines and I don't think that I am. But when I put a lot of effort into my writing, and it feels like I have been doing everything I can to stay within the guidelines on the site which I love, then being slapped down and silenced with zero recourse and zero explanation is not quite positive reinforcement.
The same thing happened when I tried to ask why it was OK to label Terry and exclude his work from being remembered as good work when he clearly suffered from a debilitating illness.
Now, I would be more than happy to throw myself back into my writing and engage as a good citizen. But it's reasonable to ask "Why aren't you allowing people to voice that their hatred for certain groups or certain people might be misplaced?"
HN isn't for ideological battle. But it's for comments. And we do occasionally talk about social issues on HN – always with an undertone of mutual respect. I don't feel like I was doing ideological battle in that comment thread. So I am left wondering how seriously to take the guidelines, if the choice between carrot and stick has been narrowed to stick and stick.