There are a few horsemen of the online community apocalypse,
1) Politics
2) Religion
3) Meta
Fundamentally - Productive discussion is problem solving. A high signal to noise ratio community is almost always boring, see r/Badeconomics for example.
Politics, religion are low barrier to entry topics, and always result in flame wars, that then proceed to drag all other behavior down.
Meta is similar: To have a high signal community, with a large user base, you filter out thousands of accounts and comments, regularly.
Meta spaces inevitably become the gathering point for these accounts and users, and their sheer volume ends up making public refutations and evidence sharing impossible.
As a result, meta becomes impossible to engage with at the level it was envisioned.
In my experience, all meta areas become staging grounds to target or harass moderation. HN is unique in the level of communication from Dang.
1) Politics 2) Religion 3) Meta
Fundamentally - Productive discussion is problem solving. A high signal to noise ratio community is almost always boring, see r/Badeconomics for example.
Politics, religion are low barrier to entry topics, and always result in flame wars, that then proceed to drag all other behavior down.
Meta is similar: To have a high signal community, with a large user base, you filter out thousands of accounts and comments, regularly. Meta spaces inevitably become the gathering point for these accounts and users, and their sheer volume ends up making public refutations and evidence sharing impossible.
As a result, meta becomes impossible to engage with at the level it was envisioned.
In my experience, all meta areas become staging grounds to target or harass moderation. HN is unique in the level of communication from Dang.