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Have only been a HN reader for a short time (though I've been linked from here quite a few times), so please pardon my pollution of this story to ask a question

by ergo98 16y ago

Have only been a HN reader for a short time (though I've been linked from here quite a few times), so please pardon my pollution of this story to ask a question: Does this belong on Hacker News? Is Hacker News turning into Reddit (minus the convenience of subreddits)? I visit both because HN was always just solid tech links and news, but several completely non-hacker stories (outside of the fact that we are humans, might have families, may see someone possibly drown, and might be a white ninja) have made the top in the past couple of days. The HN mission is diluting.

rikthevik 16y ago
I think for young professionals trying to figure out a balance between work, entrepreneurship, career, children and relationships, this article is extremely valuable. There's a lot of big decisions being made in a hacker's life.
- ergo98 16y ago
  >I think for young professionals HN has always only intended to fulfill one aspect of a Hacker's life. It never purported to offer cooking advice, car buying information, or lifestyle tips. It was about NoSQL versus SQL, language trends, Lisp, functional programming, and on and on. If it generalizes it becomes reddit, and soon a "Real Hacker News" will take over on the tech side while this place features pictures of cats and fictitious Facebook exchanges. But yes, maybe "Young Working White Collar Adult" would be a good site.
  - tjr 16y ago
    We had a cooking advice thread a year or two ago; I enjoyed that one as well. Don't want to see it here every day.
tjr 16y ago
Once in a long while? Yes, absolutely. I greatly enjoy and appreciate seeing parenting insight from other like-minded people on this site, and find the discussion very interesting. I didn't read the article itself, but I often don't, as the discussions here are often more interesting than the articles linked to. I wouldn't want to see this every day / week / month, but I'm happy to have seen it this time.
- ergo98 16y ago
  Right now at least 10% of the front page are Reddit/Digg-style stories. As interesting as Caucasian ninjas and 4-time lottery winners are, I don't think it helps the cause. HN hurtles towards becoming Reddit.
mcknz 16y ago
File under: gratifies one's intellectual curiosity. http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html "If your account is less than a year old, please don't submit comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. (It's a common semi-noob illusion.)"
- ergo98 16y ago
  Meh. I'll bravely endure the downvotes and say that it isn't a noob illusion. It's reality. It is the arc that almost every site follows when the users start thinking "people here are interested in non-specific stuff as well!" Reddit started as a HN. It became a general site. The programming subreddit has become a grunty joke. Slashdot started as a differently managed HN. It has become a joke. Digg....okay, forget about Digg. HN is becoming Reddit. As short as 6 months ago I could say that every day I visited HN I learned something new and interesting in this industry. I can't remember a single thing new or interesting over the past two weeks, and increasingly it is becoming a place for people to avoid work.
jimbokun 16y ago
"What's important in life?" has always been one of the important underlying questions in the Hacker News community.

by ergo98 16y ago

rikthevik 16y ago

I think for young professionals trying to figure out a balance between work, entrepreneurship, career, children and relationships, this article is extremely valuable. There's a lot of big decisions being made in a hacker's life.

ergo98 16y ago
>I think for young professionals HN has always only intended to fulfill one aspect of a Hacker's life. It never purported to offer cooking advice, car buying information, or lifestyle tips. It was about NoSQL versus SQL, language trends, Lisp, functional programming, and on and on. If it generalizes it becomes reddit, and soon a "Real Hacker News" will take over on the tech side while this place features pictures of cats and fictitious Facebook exchanges. But yes, maybe "Young Working White Collar Adult" would be a good site.
- tjr 16y ago
  We had a cooking advice thread a year or two ago; I enjoyed that one as well. Don't want to see it here every day.

tjr 16y ago

Once in a long while? Yes, absolutely. I greatly enjoy and appreciate seeing parenting insight from other like-minded people on this site, and find the discussion very interesting. I didn't read the article itself, but I often don't, as the discussions here are often more interesting than the articles linked to. I wouldn't want to see this every day / week / month, but I'm happy to have seen it this time.

ergo98 16y ago
Right now at least 10% of the front page are Reddit/Digg-style stories. As interesting as Caucasian ninjas and 4-time lottery winners are, I don't think it helps the cause. HN hurtles towards becoming Reddit.

mcknz 16y ago

File under: gratifies one's intellectual curiosity. http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html "If your account is less than a year old, please don't submit comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. (It's a common semi-noob illusion.)"

ergo98 16y ago
Meh. I'll bravely endure the downvotes and say that it isn't a noob illusion. It's reality. It is the arc that almost every site follows when the users start thinking "people here are interested in non-specific stuff as well!" Reddit started as a HN. It became a general site. The programming subreddit has become a grunty joke. Slashdot started as a differently managed HN. It has become a joke. Digg....okay, forget about Digg. HN is becoming Reddit. As short as 6 months ago I could say that every day I visited HN I learned something new and interesting in this industry. I can't remember a single thing new or interesting over the past two weeks, and increasingly it is becoming a place for people to avoid work.

jimbokun 16y ago

"What's important in life?" has always been one of the important underlying questions in the Hacker News community.