I wonder if recent UI enhancements really improve the discussion, or if they are just indicators that we've reached that critical threshold.

I don't remember wanting for collapsable threads and such four or five years ago, but now I can't imagine sifting through all the junk without them.

Personally I really like that change because it helps keep one thread from derailing a whole submission.

But I also feel like my karma goes up faster now too, but that could just be in my head.

Certainly I'd be a lot more ashamed at having my rant at the top here if not for the ability to collapse it.

And there is an aspect to that ability that I know people don't like.

The ability to collapse means you feel less bad about somewhat-off-topic conversation, which in a way can create worse discussion for the actual topic.

But at the same time some of my favorite HN threads have been offshoots of the submission's topic.