I returned to HN recently after a few years away, and I swear the average commenter has gotten much worse. Simultaneously more arrogant, more ignorant, and with worse reading comprehension.
I used to be able to count on commenters understanding what was written even if they disagreed, but lately I see many comments confidently responding to something that wasn't relevant or even present.
I suspect there's a bit of an Eternal September effect going on as a wider audience ends up here (possibly fleeing the continuing "enshittification" of most all for-profit online fora)
I used to be able to count on commenters understanding what was written even if they disagreed, but lately I see many comments confidently responding to something that wasn't relevant or even present.