HN Explorer

How to deal with harassment on Hacker News?

2 points by redsummer ↗ HN
I've had the unpleasant experience of being harassed for simply posting a link on Hacker News by user tome : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14191653

What is the best way to deal with these people? They ask for your 'intention' and ask spurious loaded questions. It makes Hacker News very unpleasant.

8 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 22.7 ms ] thread
Tomte
You let it go. Or you leave HN. Or you email the mods.

But frankly, I perceive your exaggerated behaviour as childish and quite possibly abusive towards tome.

davelnewton
You call that harassment? It looks more like a critical request for clarity. You chose to engage and from a neutral perspective it looks like you just kept digging a deeper hole.

¯\(°_o)/¯

Any time things touch on sensitive subjects there's going to be people who agree and disagree, sometimes vehemently. It's the internet.

erkose
I didn't read the content, but observed you engaged with this person. As such, I don't see it as harassment (at least in the context of one comment tree).
stuff4ben
I feel for you if you think that is harassment. The user Tome was asking clear and concise questions and you reply with "You are continuing to harass and smear me"?!?! Where did he/she harass and smear you? Do you even know the meaning of those words?
redsummer
The whole thread is him implying I'm an anti-semite for posting a link to the New York Post. Everyone else in the thread is OK with the link, and my summary of it. But all he does is ask 'how long have you beaten your wife' style questions.
dllthomas
You didn't "simply post a link" - your commentary on that link can easily read as attributing (a generalization of) the views in it to some meaningfully large portion of the population.

While I certainly think we should apply the principle of charity, that's done precisely by asking about intention - "I read you as saying X, is that what you meant?"

redsummer
Well, before he even asks for my 'intention' he accusing me of 'slandering Jews'.

Would I have got someone harassing me about my 'intention' if I posted about Christian or Muslim fundamentalists who don't want other peoples suffering to be mentioned? If I say Christians killed thousands during the Spanish Inquisition, will I get someone stalking and harassing me and accusing me of slandering all Christians? What is the standard here?

sctb
Please email us at hn@ycombinator.com if you have concerns—we're more than happy to help. Posting like this is a continuation of a personal dispute and those don't belong on Hacker News.