HN is a public forum where anyone from around the world can sign up from young aspiring programmers to retired folk. I haven't seen bullying on HN but it's worth noting that I don't consider disagreement to be bullying. Words have meanings.
One cool thing about HN is that the community largely leans towards precision and clarity with less tolerance for hype and fluff.
There is no DM functionality built into HN - as it's a public forum not a private messaging app. Some people may put contact details into their profile but they shouldn't have an expectation that that communication channel is used.
One of my personal philosophies, is that I stand behind my words. I don’t hide behind anonymity (I’m a reformed troll -this was not always my personal credo). I make it easy to verify (or refute), anything I say, and do my best to treat community venues with respect.
I do know that there are some folks here that seem to be obsessively in hate with me. I’m not exactly sure what I’ve done, to earn their regard, but at least one of them, has tried taking their rancor “offline.” Didn’t really do much damage, and hasn’t caused me to change my approach. I've had literal axe murderers angry with me, IRL, so some Internet Tough Guy Magazine cover model isn't going to rattle me much.
It has, however, confirmed to me, that this place is not above some fairly childish behavior.
One cool thing about HN is that the community largely leans towards precision and clarity with less tolerance for hype and fluff.
There is no DM functionality built into HN - as it's a public forum not a private messaging app. Some people may put contact details into their profile but they shouldn't have an expectation that that communication channel is used.