The defining characteristic of HN compared to subreddits is age. Most people here are older than reddit, and while i love well-moderated communities on reddit (

The defining characteristic of HN compared to subreddits is age. Most people here are older than reddit, and while i love well-moderated communities on reddit (and HN could be one), talking to a much younger audience (and cynically deflating their hopes) feels kind of wrong to me. That said, the discussion on HN is still more or less OK , especially in the less crowded "ask hn" and show hn sections. But it's not really impressive or exciting and sometimes outright disappointing, at least compared to 10 years ago. HN is now a legacy website. It's not about hackers (esp. of the illegal kind) neither about news (esp. (geo)politics). You 're not going to learn the hot new tech, but you 'll read what marketing dept. thinks of it a year later. You 'll also find articles about things that HNers don't really understand (e.g. neuroscience) yet keep getting upvotes. It's still in my top 2 communities, but feels like going to bar that s now boring and its patrons are looking for new and exciting venues. I find fresh-er discussions in twitter lately.