I made a tool to hide HN usernames and reduce bias

Hey HN, I made this tool after I read a pretty interesting pg essay - http://www.paulgraham.com/hackernews.html He talks about changing some HN usernames' colors to orange and then deciding to revert back So I thought it could be interesting to remove usernames entirely. This Chrome Extension just replaces HN usernames with question marks. I've enjoyed using it so far myself and I'm curious what you think about the concept?

Visit hackerwhos.com ↗Alternatives

In plain words

This Chrome extension replaces Hacker News usernames with question marks to reduce bias when reading comments and discussions. It's designed for HN users who want to evaluate content on its merits without being influenced by who posted it. The tool was inspired by Paul Graham's essay on how username visibility can shape perception. Users can install it to browse the site with anonymized commenter identities.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

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