alt Hacker NewsTell HN: Announcing tomhow as a public moderator
Hi all,
Tom Howard is going public as HN moderator today. He has been doing HN moderation work for years already and knows the site and its practices inside-out, so the only new thing you'll see is mod comments from Tom showing up in the threads the way mine do. I'm not going anywhere, so you'll have two of us to put up with going forward :)
I've known Tom since he was sctb's and my batchmate back in YC W09. Many of you know him as the kind and thoughtful community member tomhoward (https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=tomhoward). He's still kind and thoughtful, but he's going to post as tomhow from now on (https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=tomhow), the same way I switched to dang when I went through this rite of passage years ago.
Below is a bit from Tom about himself. Please join me in welcoming him to this new status which he was crazy enough to say yes to!
---
YC and HN have been a huge part of my life for nearly two decades. I read pg's essay How to Start a Startup in 2005 after my friend (and later, co-founder) Fenn found it on Slashdot, and it opened our eyes as to how to go about building products and companies. I first signed up in late 2007, and since then HN has been the place I come to find interesting news and discussions.
Hacker News gave me a window into the big wide world of technology and startups, that had previously seemed so remote and opaque from where I lived (and still live) in Australia. We were lucky enough to be accepted into the W09 batch of YC, and since then HN has been a place where we could share announcements about the startup, but also where I could share the challenges and struggles I experienced in the startup journey and other aspects of life, particularly to do with health and wellbeing.
From the discussions that have happened about these topics I've ended up making enduring friendships with people all over the world, and have been able to learn many things that have improved my life in profound ways. I love HN's ethos - of being a place people come to engage their curiosity. That's what it's always been for me and what I hope I can help it to be for everyone!
--Tom
Comments
Nice! Thanks for the good work.
Good luck tom in your new role!
Thanks for being a crucial part of this crucial part of my life, Tom.
Congrats mate, hope it’s a smooth transition into the limelight for you
As somebody who's seen communities come and go over the last couple of decades, I cannot praise Hacker News highly enough. And we can thank the moderators for that. HN is like an oasis for me: polite, sane, and informative, and your values and principles really shine through, especially below the fold.
Thanks for keeping the standards so high here!
I thought he was just a character from Cryptonomicon.
I thought it is an April fool joke about having Tom Holland as moderator.
My bad.
Are mods on HN paid or do they just do it for the love of the game?
Great news and best of luck during this period of high tensions.
Tom has now put Australia in the spotlights :P
WA here, hehe. Congrats!
Welcome! Excited to be under your wing Tom! Thank you Dan!
What’s the purpose of having a less clear username?
A: Welcome!
And B: Just curious, what was dang's old longname?
Thank you for what has to be a tough job.
Moin Tom,
Thanks for putting up with the work - let's go!
> He and Gackle have discussed diversifying their team, and adding a third moderator who is non-white, non-male, and, Bell joked, “non-balding.” Gackle clarified: “We've talked to each other about that. But we wouldn't make it a requirement.”
Without any negativity on Tom, whom I'm sure is excellent, I suspect you failed on this one @dang.
Warm welcome Tom! Hope it’s an easy gig.
Congrats Tom! Thank you for your service.
Any comments on this post regarding moderation at hacker news:
https://daringfireball.net/2025/03/the_website_hacker_news_i...
Congrats! Keep on making HN what it is!
Thanks for taking on this role tomhow! It's seriously appreciated and I'm also heaps happy that there's now someone in Oz that can moderate while dang gets some no doubt much-needed sleep! Champions! Thanks for making HN so bloody choice! Over of the best places on the 'net for damned sure!
Welcome, Tom and thank you Dang.
Welcome! Just do your best.
Tom what was your company in YC W09? And how did it go?
Welcome Tom, it is great that you came to Dang's aid because I was starting to worry how much longer one person could do this great job brilliantly alone.
Oh hey. Congrats, tomhow!
Congrats and welcome!
Isn't HN self-moderating with upvote/downvote/flagging? I have an impression that the notion of moderator comes from old forums (e.g. phpBB) where they didn't have those features.
Welcome tomho!
Welcome Tom, all the best with your new role and thanks for being a moderator along with Daniel :-)
It’s good to see MGR (Moderator Geographic Redundancy) being implemented on HN ;-)
Using RAID as an analogy, we now have RAID 1 moderators so let’s hope to have RAID 6 soon :-P
Ok ok, enough with the silly tech jokes and the smiley’s.
Welcome tomhow. I really appreciate the HN community and the efforts from the moderation team at helping to shape it into what it has become.
Congratulations!
Congrats Tom!
Dang, and Tom: I think it would be useful for you two moderators to use a "special" color, instead of the light gray that is used for any other username.
Congrats, Tom!
Welcome Tom!
Congrats Tom!
Good luck Tom. I do not envy the people that take on the work required to moderate this site while remaining unbiased and I am glad you are ready for the challenge. I am sure you will do a fantastic job.
Thinking far ahead, is there some way we can train LLMs that will moderate the same way as dang?
I have to say HN is one of the best moderated online forums/sites on the web. dang does a great job. Even when he disagrees with you and moderates he is open to communication, clarification and adult conversation. I really appreciate his work and have no doubt tomhow will do the same.
I will post this every year on moderator day as a sign of respect for this place. http://cosmonautdreams.com/images/dang.jpg
you (few?) do one of the biggest jobs on the internet. it's been a bit of a vice, but sufficiently rarefied that it doesn't lower anyone for indulging it. thank you.
it's said that perfect means lacking nothing essential to its whole. I've often speculated about the mechanics behind it, but really, it's a product that I think achieves today what apple and a lot of others aspire to be, where it does something well enough that almost nobody stops to question how. even if - or especially, when - that's probably the most interesting question of all.
how do you replicate it? you can't. that's the point.
may the odds ever be in your favour!
Welcome, Tom. Not easy shoes to fill! Moderation can be tricky.
Welcome, Tom. Are you a Neal Stephenson fan? There's a memorable character in Cryptonomicon who shares your name...
Good Morning Oz! Congrats, you're on overnight duty
Congrats!
Welcome!
Welcome, Tom!
Welcome Tom, Thanks for all the hard work you've done in secret and in advance for what you're about to do in open.
Welcome Tom - great to see, that both of you and yc cares for this important corner of the internet.
Welcome! can we call you tang?