8 ms·
May I ask how you are defining 'social network'? I'm guessing you and op have different pictures in your heads about what makes a social network, as opposed to
by zorak 9y ago
May I ask how you are defining 'social network'? I'm guessing you and op have different pictures in your heads about what makes a social network, as opposed to a simple forum.
- p1esk 9y agoA social network site is a site where you go to interact with other people.
- dwaltrip 9y agoYour definition glosses over important distinctions between different kinds of "sites where people interact".
- p1esk 9y agoAny definition will suffer from it because on any single site different people interact differently.
- dwaltrip 9y agoYet there are still meaningful distinctions that can be made. For examples, it is easy to identify very key differences between Facebook and HN.
- p1esk 9y agoI mostly use Facebook to look at the recent submissions in the Deep Learning group. I mostly come to HN for SV gossip, and to stroke my ego. Perhaps instead of trying to see the differences, you should look for similarities. For example, how addictive is the site?
- dwaltrip 9y agoThe OP commented how sites like Facebook and Instagram seem to distort people's view of what is a normal or good life, as often only the best moments are shared on the site. And this affect can happen even if you are aware of it. HN is mostly about discussing specific sorts of topics, and doesn't have much of a personal profile, so it is likely that affect is far smaller here. As for addictiveness, I would agree with you that they are similar along that dimension.
- p1esk 9y agoYou don't think reading about 300k SE salaries, or startups valued in billions before they turn any profit can distort people's view of what is normal, or good life?
- dwaltrip 9y agoYes, I think it can. However, this type of content makes up a smaller percentage of HN content, and lack of video and images makes it less visceral. Also, HN commenters are fairly good at acknowledging this and helping each other counteract the distortion.
- p1esk 9y agoAnd yet that type of content affects me much more than anything I ever saw on FB. My point is, I come to HN for similar reasons as why my gf goes to Instagram. We are both affected by what we see. It might distort our worldview. We are both addicted. You can claim the high ground, and believe that somehow what you do here is different or more "noble" than what other people do on other social media sites, but that's a very common illusion.
- dwaltrip 9y agoI would guess that the way you use Facebook, by only visiting Deep Learning groups, is a fairly atypical usage pattern. I'm not trying to claim any personal high ground. I'm trying to understand, in general, how these different types of sites tend to affect people.
- type0 9y agoThe so called social media experts usually define it: Facebook, Twitter, Google+