What HN needs to stop is how someone can take it upon their self to reply to half of the top level comments to infect each thread with their world view.
It's one of the most annoying HN phenomena because now each top level thread is dominated by the exact same debate and they get to fight a bunch of battles in parallel. Totally kills the discussion.
The only way 5 comments in 2 hours is acceptable to me is if it was in the comments section of the same submission. I think some people need to be ushered out of the theater so others can participate.
> ...they get to fight a bunch of battles in parallel...
Isn't this what having a minority opinion would look like? It seems like aggressively rate limiting everyone would run the risk of increasing echo chamber effects.
Honestly I feel dumb sending old threads to this address to prove this point, and I absolutely don't want any repercussions on post limits or whatever (considering you have my email and could easily find me). But I might resolve to click that send button before the end of my workday, who knows.
So why is there no report button ? When you can't downvote (I seem to have no comment limit though ? by the way I am amazed that some people with huge karma are limited) and can't flag (I don't even know how that works) posts, you feel rather helpless against incivilities.
Click on the timestamp of the comment and you should get a flag button on the page for that specific comment. If you have enough karma for flagging. I suspect adding the extra click reduces excessive flagging behavior.
Note that the best way to address a perceived problem with moderation or lack thereof is to email the mods. Because while it might take a couple days, you'll get an answer which feels a lot less like screaming into the void than hitting flag buttons, and the mods will also know why you're reporting something because you can explain it.
It's one of the most annoying HN phenomena because now each top level thread is dominated by the exact same debate and they get to fight a bunch of battles in parallel. Totally kills the discussion.
The only way 5 comments in 2 hours is acceptable to me is if it was in the comments section of the same submission. I think some people need to be ushered out of the theater so others can participate.