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It's not just the marketing groups but also peer pressure. Whenever I pointed out on HN that I don't use social media or smart phones as I find them a net negative, people jumped at it mockingly, saying this is the new "I don't have a TV" or argued that it is simply impossible, etc.

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How is HN not social media?

Just rephrase what they said in your head as "I'm not on any major social media platforms, and I limit my time on HN" and we can avoid this conversation that happens every time we try to discuss social media or screen time on this site.

Otherwise discussion on the topic is impossible, as one can always respond with "yea well you're on HN aren't you?!"

Most people I know who tout the fact that they "don't have a TV" nevertheless watch Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime, etc.

I think it's a valid point to question what people mean when they say they're not on social media, yet are posting on HN.

I think there are features that most people consider defining of social media, such as personalized feeds, following other people, etc.

HN has none of those. As a result, I don't consider it "social media", I consider it a specialty news aggregator that has a robust comment section.

Back when FB and the like were new, calling them "social media" was done to differentiate them from sites like HN.

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