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A comment on Ask HN: A place like HN but with more nerdy stuff and less social stuff?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: A place like HN but with more nerdy stuff and les... by btilly on Saturday December 08, 2012 @11:44AM (#4891957)
About a decade ago I noticed this phenomena.

Worthwhile communities need to be maintained by barriers. The kind of barrier that I personally enjoy most is, "Crappy enough interface that only people who really like the content will be motivated to show up."

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Re:Ask HN: A place like HN but with more nerdy stuff and les... by VMG on Saturday December 08, 2012 @12:29PM (#4892103)
I think it just correlates with the presence if images. Also StackExchanges have excellent UIs, APIs and still very good content. StackOverflow itself could also be worse.
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Re:Ask HN: A place like HN but with more nerdy stuff and les... by btilly on Saturday December 08, 2012 @12:55PM (#4892186)
That is a good comparison. StackOverflow has a good API, but maintains itself with carefully thought through and zealously enforced moderation rules.

I grant the existence of useful content there and a good API. However after one too many brushes with how differently moderators think about stuff than the people who I liked talking to did, I have demonstrated the truth of my comment by choosing to leave.

StackOverflow works for a lot of people. But for me, personally, a stripped down interface and less moderation is a better experience.

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Re:Ask HN: A place like HN but with more nerdy stuff and les... by artursapek on Saturday December 08, 2012 @12:25PM (#4892095)
Yep. No magic tricks. Just substance.
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Re:Ask HN: A place like HN but with more nerdy stuff and les... by xk_id on Saturday December 08, 2012 @08:17PM (#4893380)
Amen to that.
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Re:Ask HN: A place like HN but with more nerdy stuff and les... by harpb on Saturday December 08, 2012 @01:46PM (#4892334)
Or just create one themselves: http://harpb.com/static/news/news.html#/featured/p1/100

Presentation, along with content, is a better experience than just having good content.

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Re:Ask HN: A place like HN but with more nerdy stuff and les... by muratmutlu on Saturday December 08, 2012 @04:01PM (#4892676)
Never really thought of it like that, a statement worth exploring for sure
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