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No. I don't even have my mail program notify me of new email anymore, unless it's from one of three crucial senders. Notifications are bad for you--especially

No. I don't even have my mail program notify me of new email anymore, unless it's from one of three crucial senders. Notifications are bad for you--especially for pointless trivial stuff like HN comment threads. Consider the difficulty of checking on old HN threads a feature, which aids in Letting Things Go. Just my own opinion, of course.

anandnair 8y ago
I agree. 'Push' Notifications can be annoying if not relevant. But what do you think about an unread counter in HN? I can just click that to see if I missed some replies. Reddit has this.
- finaliteration 8y ago
  I think the “unread” counter still creates that somewhat intrusive and addicting feeling. If I post on HN I don’t really sit here refreshing to see if anyone replied. I just kind of come back at the end of my day and see what happened. It also takes a few more clicks to get to comments, threads, etc., especially for older posts and comments so it adds a barrier to that instant dopamine rush. When I previously used Reddit it felt like I would just sit there refreshing all day waiting until that envelope turned orange...
duxup 8y ago
I turned off email notifications a while back, mostly because my two year old may have deleted some emails while playing a game.... but anyway I had no idea how annoying those email notifications were, after I turned off email notifications it was such a new and nice experience. I had been very careful about email notifications unsubscribing and avoiding giving out my email address so it hadn't been a problem .... then I was laid off and decided to change careers and my email just exploded (sadly not with job offers yet). Turning off email notifications was really stress relieving.
gHosts 8y ago
> especially for pointless trivial stuff like HN comment threads. Since you never enter into a conversation you ensure all your replies are pointless and trivial..... ...except you will never know this. ;-)

anandnair 8y ago

I agree. 'Push' Notifications can be annoying if not relevant. But what do you think about an unread counter in HN? I can just click that to see if I missed some replies. Reddit has this.

finaliteration 8y ago
I think the “unread” counter still creates that somewhat intrusive and addicting feeling. If I post on HN I don’t really sit here refreshing to see if anyone replied. I just kind of come back at the end of my day and see what happened. It also takes a few more clicks to get to comments, threads, etc., especially for older posts and comments so it adds a barrier to that instant dopamine rush. When I previously used Reddit it felt like I would just sit there refreshing all day waiting until that envelope turned orange...

duxup 8y ago

I turned off email notifications a while back, mostly because my two year old may have deleted some emails while playing a game.... but anyway I had no idea how annoying those email notifications were, after I turned off email notifications it was such a new and nice experience. I had been very careful about email notifications unsubscribing and avoiding giving out my email address so it hadn't been a problem .... then I was laid off and decided to change careers and my email just exploded (sadly not with job offers yet). Turning off email notifications was really stress relieving.

gHosts 8y ago

> especially for pointless trivial stuff like HN comment threads. Since you never enter into a conversation you ensure all your replies are pointless and trivial..... ...except you will never know this. ;-)