1) I enjoy figuring out how HN works over time by noticing certain patterns. Still haven't figured out (please don't spoil) why I can't downvote certain comments in threads where I see both arrows on other comments. HN feels like games in the past - you're given some docs but over time you'd go "ooooh" about something undocumented. Good stuff.
2) voting system works well for just users but HN is infested with corporate voting manipulation. It seems that an entity monitoring eg. brand's name is able to use just a few 501+ karma accounts to bury, or a few more to strongly boost, any post
3) based on what I learned about posts' scores (more than a grain of salt - as I mentioned - I'm still figuring things out) it seems a little out of place that sometimes a few hours-old posts (not as old to qualify for the "second chance" thing) with barely any comments and points are positioned higher on the top page than younger posts with more activity (higher score and more comments). I've noticed it more than once with substack and my assumption is that HN may be boosting YC-backed products
It may not even be official corporate manipulation. HN is frequented by a lot of industry insiders, and if they see something that doesn't resonate with what they know to be true they'll downvote.
Exactly: there's a ton of people here who work at the big ad-tech companies, so of course they're going to downvote anything that promotes ad-blocking since that harms their own paycheck in a way.
Imagine a discussion forum for medical topics (science, research, etc.) where 1/3 the users work for companies that sell homeopathic "remedies", and how that would influence moderation there.
I don't think Dang is advancing YC interests - I think it's just bog-standard astroturfing. Especially with the low vote count of most stories, it's not hard to make your story pop or disappear.
2) voting system works well for just users but HN is infested with corporate voting manipulation. It seems that an entity monitoring eg. brand's name is able to use just a few 501+ karma accounts to bury, or a few more to strongly boost, any post
3) based on what I learned about posts' scores (more than a grain of salt - as I mentioned - I'm still figuring things out) it seems a little out of place that sometimes a few hours-old posts (not as old to qualify for the "second chance" thing) with barely any comments and points are positioned higher on the top page than younger posts with more activity (higher score and more comments). I've noticed it more than once with substack and my assumption is that HN may be boosting YC-backed products