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Comment by smegma2 | Hacker News Reader

It's more that your parent comment doesn't convey much information. I read it as "I don't think Musk acquiring twitter is a good thing" without explaining why and extrapolating that everyone else will feel the same way.

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That seems like a very uncharitable interpretation. They weren't asking whether others agree with a statement of fact but whether a sentiment or feeling is common. Maybe it would have led to a more productive discussion if the question had been phrased more generally ("do people think there will be a lot of departures") without putting a personal spin on it, but the ugly turn things took afterward is more on the respondents than on the person asking. We're supposed to be curious, remember?

>extrapolating that everyone else will feel the same way

Whoa, where are you getting that?

You know where I'm getting it. If I say: "could this be the worst presidency our country has seen?" It's clear that it's not a real question, but an assertion. Similarly, when someone says "could this be the end of Twitter?" they are suggesting that it is in fact the end of Twitter.

You're right that such a thing is common, but I don't get the "fake question" vibe at all - sincerely, I don't. Maybe the parent is committing that sin, for all I know, but to assume so seems unnecessarily hostile. It's not worded particularly provocatively, and the question of the direction Elon would take the platform and whether it could really be the beginning of the end, for some definition of end, has genuine value. Also, please don't accuse me of being dishonest with, "You know where I'm getting it".

Sorry for assuming bad faith. It sounded like you were playing dumb in which case I feel there's no other way to respond.

I feel that 'assume good faith' has its limits since those who comment in bad faith have no restrictions while others are forced to respond as though nothing is wrong. So sometimes I feel the need to respond a bit more aggressively, maybe that's not in the goals of the site though.

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