It was awesome. Then it jumped the shark when people realized they could flag posts they don't like with no repercussions.
One problem with metamoderation is that once a particular forum becomes an echo chamber, even metamoderation will unconsciously but repeatably ignore "valid" information from the other side and amplify misinformation from their own side. But if the site owners specifically searched for good-faith users from multiple viewpoints to serve as the jury pool for metamoderation, this could be workable.
Yes, HN is better than a toxic cesspit full of ignorant teenagers. That's a low hurdle.
https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...