I think most news.yc users overestimate the value of voting. It's in your face, you see the numbers on every item, so it's easy to assume that's the most important thing. It isn't. It's just a guide, that indicates what the users are currently thinking. Sadly, it doesn't work to put too much stock in what they're thinking.
Pretty much every site on the internet where users gather and talk has eventually turned into a cesspool of angry arguments and spite, just before imploding altogether. Clay Shirky wrote the definitive essay on the subject:
So the evidence is pretty clear: leave the users to their own devices, and they'll eventually destroy the community. pg and the editors are well aware of this. So they curb bad behavior, behind the scenes. Many, many users and submissions get banned or killed. If it wasn't that way, this community definitely would not have survived for three-plus-years now.
And if you ask me, pg did absolutely the right thing banning that blog entry. It was exactly the sort of ugly, spiteful thing that sends a community spiraling into its death throes. I'm glad it's gone.
I suppose flag is a form of voting, but I think you underestimate the value of HN culture. Angry arguments and spite have rarely been tolerated here.
It appears PG didn't ban a blog entry, but rather a domain, and one which had previously been a source of useful content. If we apply this same standard we ought start banning entire domains left, right and centre: first cab off the rank should be techcrunch.com
Pretty much every site on the internet where users gather and talk has eventually turned into a cesspool of angry arguments and spite, just before imploding altogether. Clay Shirky wrote the definitive essay on the subject:
http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html
So the evidence is pretty clear: leave the users to their own devices, and they'll eventually destroy the community. pg and the editors are well aware of this. So they curb bad behavior, behind the scenes. Many, many users and submissions get banned or killed. If it wasn't that way, this community definitely would not have survived for three-plus-years now.
And if you ask me, pg did absolutely the right thing banning that blog entry. It was exactly the sort of ugly, spiteful thing that sends a community spiraling into its death throes. I'm glad it's gone.