That's particularly true because HN threads usually have high search ranking. Anyone personally connected to a theme can easily get directed to an HN thread on that topic. That includes authors and project creators. It also includes family members of people being discussed.
There was a horrible case yesterday where someone died and the thread filled up with generic dross. People weren't being malicious. It's just what happens when internet commenters aren't familiar with the specifics of a topic (more about that at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22027453). But we ended up getting an anguished email from someone close to the person who had just died.
This is a systemic problem and I wish we knew what to do about it.
Hi, maybe this is offtopic, but I felt this way when anime studio KyoAni was arsoned and many of its employees died in a horrific way, and the news got to the front page of HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20468395
Even though the people there weren't necessarily violating the site guidelines per se, the commentary that some people were making (e.g. discussion about IP stemming from the murderer's unsubstantiated accusation of plagiarism, or discussion about Japan's culture) felt insensitive and hurt me as someone who was greatly impacted by KyoAni's work. I didn't understand how to express my feelings about this, but the way you describe it ("generic dross") explains it perfectly.
There was a horrible case yesterday where someone died and the thread filled up with generic dross. People weren't being malicious. It's just what happens when internet commenters aren't familiar with the specifics of a topic (more about that at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22027453). But we ended up getting an anguished email from someone close to the person who had just died.
This is a systemic problem and I wish we knew what to do about it.