Ask HN: Why do text posts have such low contrast?

I know this does not answer your question but you can change any of the colors with uBlock filters. I can share mine but I must add the disclaimer it might make your eyes bleed. Adjust the colors based on your own preferences. I set my &quot;topcolor&quot; to #000000 in the UI and then the following goes into uBlock Origin &quot;My Filters&quot;. A couple of those may not do anything any more.<p><pre><code> # HN Color news.ycombinator.com##html:style(background-color: #011 !important) news.ycombinator.com###hnmain:style(background-color: #011 !important) news.ycombinator.com##commtext:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.toptext:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.age:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.c00.commtext:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.cdd.commtext:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.c9C.commtext:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.c73.commtext:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.c5a.commtext:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.cbe.commtext:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.c88.commtext:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.cae.commtext:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.cce.commtext:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.comhead &gt; a:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.comhead:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.hnuser:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.subtext &gt; a:link:style(color: #588 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.subtext &gt; a:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.subtext:style(color: #191 !important) news.ycombinator.com##.title &gt; a:style(color: #191 !important; background-color: #011 !important) news.ycombinator.com##a:link:style(color: #588 !important) news.ycombinator.com##a:visited:style(color: #255 !important) news.ycombinator.com##a:hover:style(color: #191 !important; background-color: #011 !important)</code></pre>

&gt; Posts without URLs get penalized. If you post with a link and then add the text as a first comment you have more visibility.<p>Source: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;minimaxir&#x2F;hacker-news-undocumented?tab=readme-ov-file#implicit-downranking-of-posts-without-urls" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;minimaxir&#x2F;hacker-news-undocumented?tab=re...</a>

I&#x27;m guessing it&#x27;s to somewhat discourage text posts - more of a linksharing messageboard than a blogging platform with a commenting system.