6 ms·

I find the comments that rant against social media on hacker news amusing. Hacker news is a social media website. "Hacker News is a social news website focusin

by Trav5 9y ago

I find the comments that rant against social media on hacker news amusing. Hacker news is a social media website. "Hacker News is a social news website focusing on computer science and entrepreneurship." [0] It's the same as a group on any other system, just different formatting. It even has karma which can suck you in... I do not disagree with the sentiment though, managing the amount of time one gives to social media is tough. Picking good social circles and getting out of bad ones is tough. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_News https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_News

andrepd 9y ago
I think Hacker News (and traditional topical discussion forums in general) is to Facebook as playing boardgames with your friends is to a Casino.
- darkerside 9y ago
  It's more like playing poker at the casino instead of roulette
nicklaf 9y ago
If Hacker News is just as much 'social media' as less literary platforms like Twitter or Facebook, then I don't think that social media is the problem per se. Y-combinator has its own profit motive, but it doesn't take its readers for fools to be manipulated. (Well, maybe this happens a little bit, with people voting up trendy stories.) Yes, Hacker News has a 'share button'. I think what sets it apart from sites like Facebook is that it's not sufficient for the shared item to garner lots of attention; rather, it will be subject to written criticism, potentially leading to downvotes and flagging. Finally, Hacker News is moderated by very thoughtful people, ruling out a big chunk of the content that makes unmoderated social media little better than a tabloid magazine.
- pbhjpbhj 9y ago
  That sounds rather like "we can use this media because we're talking about clever stuff but people talking about trivial stuff clearly shouldn't use it".
  - nicklaf 9y ago
    Yes, I agree reading back it sounds rather weak. That said, maybe the differences comes down to: are we being drawn in through manipulation to post beyond what we otherwise would have wanted to, for the benefit of others? To an extent, this is what karma is.
    - Trav5 9y ago
      Bingo, and I checked hacker news at least 10 times more than I would have just to see how many points I got for the above comment. I also spent way too much time carefully constructing the comment. 13 points, which is more than most of my recent comments. Now, who's fault is it for being drawn in more than I want to be? I take responsibility for it and also agnolage my weaknesses for distraction. Maybe you could equate social media to a liquor store. Fulfilling a demand, serving the community, and also praying on and enabling it, in a bad way. Most of the time I'm distracted by social media, I would be better served by sleeping.
      - nicklaf 9y ago
        Hopefully you'll survive the upvote I just gave you. :P
abootstrapper 9y ago
Differences in platforms aside, I find it amusing that people don't think we're aware that we're criticizing the medium on which we're communicating.

by Trav5 9y ago

andrepd 9y ago

I think Hacker News (and traditional topical discussion forums in general) is to Facebook as playing boardgames with your friends is to a Casino.

darkerside 9y ago
It's more like playing poker at the casino instead of roulette

nicklaf 9y ago

If Hacker News is just as much 'social media' as less literary platforms like Twitter or Facebook, then I don't think that social media is the problem per se. Y-combinator has its own profit motive, but it doesn't take its readers for fools to be manipulated. (Well, maybe this happens a little bit, with people voting up trendy stories.) Yes, Hacker News has a 'share button'. I think what sets it apart from sites like Facebook is that it's not sufficient for the shared item to garner lots of attention; rather, it will be subject to written criticism, potentially leading to downvotes and flagging. Finally, Hacker News is moderated by very thoughtful people, ruling out a big chunk of the content that makes unmoderated social media little better than a tabloid magazine.

pbhjpbhj 9y ago
That sounds rather like "we can use this media because we're talking about clever stuff but people talking about trivial stuff clearly shouldn't use it".
- nicklaf 9y ago
  Yes, I agree reading back it sounds rather weak. That said, maybe the differences comes down to: are we being drawn in through manipulation to post beyond what we otherwise would have wanted to, for the benefit of others? To an extent, this is what karma is.
  - Trav5 9y ago
    Bingo, and I checked hacker news at least 10 times more than I would have just to see how many points I got for the above comment. I also spent way too much time carefully constructing the comment. 13 points, which is more than most of my recent comments. Now, who's fault is it for being drawn in more than I want to be? I take responsibility for it and also agnolage my weaknesses for distraction. Maybe you could equate social media to a liquor store. Fulfilling a demand, serving the community, and also praying on and enabling it, in a bad way. Most of the time I'm distracted by social media, I would be better served by sleeping.
    - nicklaf 9y ago
      Hopefully you'll survive the upvote I just gave you. :P

abootstrapper 9y ago

Differences in platforms aside, I find it amusing that people don't think we're aware that we're criticizing the medium on which we're communicating.