Why Can't We Have a 'Discuss' Button for Hiring Posts on HN?

4 points by Ukudala 2 years ago | 8 comments

I recently came across an intriguing hiring post by Snapmagic [here](https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=snapmagic.com), a YC company that's carving out a unique niche. The opportunity they're presenting seems not only promising but also raises a lot of questions about their journey and strategy, especially in terms of their AI focus.

For instance, if they were part of YCS15, I'm curious about the timeline of their evolution towards AI. Was AI always part of their grand vision from 2015, or was it a strategic pivot they made along the way? These kinds of discussions could add so much more context and value both to potential applicants and the broader HN community interested in the dynamics of startup evolution, technological pivots, and the real stories behind a hiring post.

However, there's no straightforward way to initiate these discussions directly from the hiring posts, leaving us to find roundabout methods like creating separate posts just to talk about it.

I believe adding a 'Discuss' button directly on hiring posts could foster richer conversations, deeper insights into companies and positions, and potentially even better matches between companies and candidates. What does the community think? Is there a specific reason such a feature doesn't exist, or could it be a valuable addition to Hacker News?

wmf 2 years ago |

Those threads would probably get filled with negativity. (Why does this company even exist? I could do this in a weekend!) It would also create a conflict of interest for the moderator (dang); if he kills posts trashing YC companies then it's censorship but if he allows them it's like throwing startups directly into an orange crab bucket.

gus_massa 2 years ago |

In an old comment that I can't find, dang explained that the problem of enabling the comment section in the job posts is repetition. Jobs post of each company are very similar, and they may even be equal if theay are hiring a second person or the first try didn't get any candidate. So everyone that likes the company will repost the same comment, and everyine that dislije the compay will repost the same comnent, and the result will be the same discussion again and again each time.

If you are interested in what they are doing, I sugest to look at their blog and pick the most interesting article (in your opinion), and post it to create a new discussion. (You can even post the first commemt to sugest the topic you want to discuss.)

ttymck 2 years ago | |

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22767319

ttymck 2 years ago |

This seems to be asked once a month. I am surprised there isn't a spam filter explicity for it at this point:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2022116

Also: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22767319

devonnull 2 years ago |

> Is there a specific reason such a feature doesn't exist

Maybe no one has, or not many people have, asked for it? And I'm not sure what, if any resources YC would be willing to devote to adding something like that.

ClassyJacket 2 years ago | |

Resources? All they need to do is treat them the same as other posts. Comments are already implemented on HN, in fact, this thing you wrote here is one of them, so you already knew that.

dudul 2 years ago |

YC probably prefers adding a bit of friction for people interested, instead of having the risk of negative comments about the companies under the job posting.

eellogical 2 years ago |

Those job posts are from companies that YC has invested in. Most of those companies are yet another way of trying to get rich without any real product of worth. If people were allowed to comment on them, the reality of those companies will get exposed. So such posts are exempt from the glorified rule that let the HN community decide what's interesting and what's not and comment and vote accordingly.