>but rather because a small subset of users abused the flag button...
But try to understand, it only takes a "small subset" of millions of HN users to get a post past /newest to the front page in the first place. We can't start complaining that it only takes a "small subset" of millions of HN users to remove it.
It might even be the case that the fact that it only takes a small subset of users to move a post to the front page is precisely the reason that the people behind HN implemented a flagging mechanism. So that, for instance, a small subset of people can't force dozens of their articles about the superiority of Emacs onto everyone else for days at a time. Worse, it encourages someone like me to post articles on the superiority of vi. (That's different though, because I'm only correcting the misinformation.)
But try to understand, it only takes a "small subset" of millions of HN users to get a post past /newest to the front page in the first place. We can't start complaining that it only takes a "small subset" of millions of HN users to remove it.
It might even be the case that the fact that it only takes a small subset of users to move a post to the front page is precisely the reason that the people behind HN implemented a flagging mechanism. So that, for instance, a small subset of people can't force dozens of their articles about the superiority of Emacs onto everyone else for days at a time. Worse, it encourages someone like me to post articles on the superiority of vi. (That's different though, because I'm only correcting the misinformation.)