Once this tsunami dies down, we'll put it back the way it was before. In the meantime, when there's significant new information (https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&so...), we can take the penalty off. The trouble is that it's not exactly easy to tell significant new information apart from significant new drama. Plus I was offline for part of the day yesterday.
As you can see from the above HN Search link, it's not like HN has been lacking for Reddit discussion—the problem is all the other way.
Why change the weighting given stories on a given topic without notice?
And how do you reconcile this change with HN's long-standing policy that "We moderate HN less, not more, when YC or YC startups are the story", which is "literally the first rule of HN moderation"?
<>>34320816 >
Reiterated within the past week: <>>36366909 >