Hacker News Reader

Comment by stronglikedan | Hacker News Reader

While both have been coined "social media", I think there's a huge difference between content aggregation/discussion sites, and content creation sites. I think, deep down, everyone knows HN and its ilk are not "social media". It's a merely discussion forum at most.

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this is just a cope. sites like this are still social and still addictive, if you don’t believe me then try to stop coming here for a while.

in fact try to stop going to all “slot machine” sites where you can constantly refresh and get new interesting things

It’s really not the same by matter of extremity. Hacker news has maybe a small fraction of the addictive mechanics at play in instagram or twitter. Personally, I only come back to this site because I don’t have other, far more addictive social media to scroll when bored.

I thi k one if the damaging things about social media sites like Instagram, Facebook etc is that everyone displays their best life on it. You visit these sites and see these photo that make you feel bad because you ask "Why is my life not exciting? Why don't I have those things?"

Hackernews and other forums don't really hit that nerve with me. Yes, it's easy to just keep scrolling and reading more but at least I don't feel like shit afterwards. It's addictive but only but for me in that I waste time on it when I could be doing other stuff. It doesn't make me depressed though.

A decade or slightly less so ago, maybe because this site was smaller and close-knit and interest rates were lower, you could get a similar effect from seeing Show HN threads about this person launching some amazing technical project or impressive startup. In this uncertain economy not so much. Also, blogs are increasingly less fashionable so you don't see nearly as many "wow what a trenchant and witty thinkpiece" posts from devs playing thought leader.

There is still a similar vein of productivity and hustling. Ask HNs are often about side project, productivity hacks, and income streams. Show HNs and blogs are the same topics, but actualized. It’s the same treadmill, but instead you feel bad about not being hyper productive, elite haxxor skills, or cashing out.

I think a big thing about social media is having people or personalities that you follow. I don't use HN in a way where I notice who is commenting or posting and there's nobody I "follow" on this site. Every story and comment is like a new anonymous person to me.

When I was heavily into Reddit I'd use RES and get to know people so it felt more like social media. Now that I've deleted my account and sporadically read Reddit it doesn't feel like social media or something I'm addicted to.

It's same problem as social media. It's why this site has a noprocrast

People that tend to procrastinate do not need a reason to do so, and the things they get addicted to are not necessarily engineered to be so. Social media is strongly engineered to be addictive, HN is engineered not to be addictive (though it still is, as I should definitely be aware by now).

HN might not have the built-in quality to be addictive, but it certainly has the quantity. Infinite content produces infinite ways to be addictive.

You're confusing addictive websites and social media as one and the same? They're not.

Hacker news isn't social media. Facebook and Twitter are. It's pretty easy to see why.

By this definition then people who read the personal ads in the paper everyday in 1995 were addicted to social media.

Ironically to me, "this is just a cope" is exactly what I can't stand social media.

Just large groups of people puppeting the same dumb language and ideas back at each other, ad nauseam.

I think there's a huge difference between content aggregation/discussion sites, and content creation sites.

Are comments and discussions separate from "content creation"?

A movie you made, a book you wrote, an article you wrote -> content.

A comment you wrote, or a link you posted -> meta-content.

This is media (web) that we are social on (discussion). It’s these folks own definition of social media that needs fixing so they don’t feel isolated. I don’t use instagram not bc I’m weird but because it’s a shit experience.

The social in "social media" doesn't mean discussion. It means sharing personal media and creating bonds with people. i.e. socialising. Hacker news has no means to do so.

We have pseudo anonymity which allows for reputation. I am not sure how much more of a bond you are looking for, but conversation and rapport is about all you need for socializing — both are here.

I think hacker news is way better, but Reddit is very much like social media

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