Over the past few months, I've seen a number of
very popular and active political posts disappear off the front page in a matter of hours. Notable examples that come to mind are yesterday's various travel ban threads (such as this one[1]) and Sam Altman's blog post on Thiel[2] and Trump[3] — all with hundreds of upvotes and comments, but buried several pages down next to posts that are one or two days older. On one hand, I realize that the most likely explanation is that a large contingent of the site is rabidly opposed to political discussion and downvotes/flags these posts en masse. However, I've also seen convincing evidence on Reddit and elsewhere that huge throngs of far-right accounts — whether genuine, automated, or funded by outside political forces — tend to brigade these kinds of topics and swing votes in their favor.
First, does HN have the means to monitor and counteract this kind of vote manipulation?
Second, would the mods consider giving these kinds of contentious political posts more front page weight? I was stunned that the last two sama blog posts disappeared off the front page in a matter of hours (to the point where most people probably didn't even see them) whereas normally they'd stick around for a day or more.
These discussions are buzzing with activity and are absolutely vital to the future of our community! I strongly believe they deserve to be read more widely.
[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13509509
[2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12728249
[3]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13507993
First, does HN have the means to monitor and counteract this kind of vote manipulation?
Second, would the mods consider giving these kinds of contentious political posts more front page weight? I was stunned that the last two sama blog posts disappeared off the front page in a matter of hours (to the point where most people probably didn't even see them) whereas normally they'd stick around for a day or more.
These discussions are buzzing with activity and are absolutely vital to the future of our community! I strongly believe they deserve to be read more widely.
[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13509509
[2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12728249
[3]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13507993