I wish people would stop using low contrast text on websites (gray text on gray or white background or other low or ultra-low contrast combinations).

It adds nothing whatsoever other than perhaps giving the the designer a sense of being trendy and making the site annoying to users.

Low contrast text is hard to read, particularly if you are tired or have less than perfect vision. It's just annoying and, my opinion, counterproductive.

You want to make your site easier and more comfortable for users. Making them squint, turn-up the brightness, zoom or put on glasses fails to capture that concept.

Yes, it does work in some cases. HN uses gray text on gray background for instructions or anything that isn't primary. That's OK. If threads were displayed in gray-over-gray it'd be a horrible UI/UX experience in my opinion.

Let the flames begin!