I have HN to thank for exposing me to a ton of new tech/trends, but I think more importantly exposing me to smart, passionate people coming from very different perspectives, who I'd have never met otherwise. It's so valuable to know what's really out there and what's possible with a little time outside the comfort zone.
With other platforms, the algorithmically curated and individualized feeds just feel like these claustrophobic little echo chambers to me.
There's a ton of interesting stuff out there on the internet, but it's hard to actually encounter it when you have to fight against the feed algorithms to get exposure to new concepts and ideas.
I feel very fortunate that this place hasn’t succumbed to the noise and negativity that most places I’ve haunted on the internet have in the previous decades.