I think they have something of a point... On HN we can look into each other's post history to profile each other which does constitute something of a peek int

I think they have something of a point... On HN we can look into each other's post history to profile each other which does constitute something of a peek into however much of our lives we have decided to share, and I often see people mention it when disagreeing on each other. There's upvote/downvote/flagging wars on tribally charged matters, as much as Dang does his best to moderate it. All of this has to be driving up cortisol and furthering people's fear and suspicion. But, on the other hand, HN's design is very web 1.0, and that does curtail the effects a little. You have to click instead of infini-scrolling. If you really want to profile someone, you again have to click through many pages of their post history. I think the warring that happens is endemic to the society and any medium would carry some of it, and I've seen it spilling over into "meat space". Is HN use V.S. some other social media stemming the tide of poor mental health? I say probably not by much, if at all. Would annihilating all "engagement optimized" social media have positive results on our mental health? I say probably a considerable amount, but not enough to fix what's already broken in too many of us. Being highly optimistic it could drive some sort of "positive feedback loop" if the mental health benefits were somehow reinvested into further healthy decisions for society, but I think a lot of people would just end up in another vice because that's part of the current human condition.