I imagine you can recognize the difference between an extractive, engagement-metric-driven profit-centre like FB or "X" and a forum-like discussion site like Hacker News. There's a reason I used the phrase "mass social media". And actually, no, HN is not a social network in the same category as the ones I mentioned. No one has a "wall"/feed, you can't add/message friends, there's no algorithm telling me what to see, etc.

A social network requires at least being able to "friend" another user does it not? I don't think Hacker News has such features.

It's a forum... And a bloody good one.

I think the differences between a _forum_ like this - which isn't far off from Usenet - as compared to modern social media are entirely the point.

It's precisely those differences that matter: the highly polished, short form content designed to give a dopamine hit. The highly polarized topics, the hot takes, ML echo chambers, dark patterns, all of it.

HN isn't without its issues, and much of those other platforms' issues bleed over, but we're talking apples and aircraft carriers here, and I reject the idea that this is "pretty much the same thing".

I’ve seen this argument made so much lately I’m starting to feel like it’s being astroturfed.

Forums are like proto-social networks, but were around a long time before the MySpace/FB-type of bona fide social networks