4 ms·

As someone who quit social media a couple of years ago, I would say, yes, you should quit social media (regardless of whether that's the question). It is wonder

As someone who quit social media a couple of years ago, I would say, yes, you should quit social media (regardless of whether that's the question). It is wonderful for one's mental health. It's true that you will lose a lot of connections, but you will manage to stay in touch with the people that matter.

swader999 5y ago
I think its great that you did this and realized some benefit but isn't HN social media?
- droptablemain 5y ago
  I wouldn't consider HN social media, but instead a news aggregator with a robust comment section. These things existed long before the emergence of social-media networks. Who am I? Who are you? We don't know. There are no friends, connections, or personal details shared. Interactions are fleeting and temporary.
  - corty 5y ago
    Reading and writing HN comments can suck as much time as social media. I'd say if it sucks too much time for your taste, quit. If it doesn't, good for you.
    - droptablemain 5y ago
      Time spent is not the only consideration. Consider how the app is affecting one's psychology. Consider how addictive patterns and the so-called attention economy are changing people's attention spans, patterns of behavior, and thinking.
  - yesenadam 5y ago
    And..having friends on here would be somehow bad?.. I like Clay Shirky's definition of social media, (something like) a website where the users create the content, where the thing wouldn't exist in the same way without the users. But the definition of the word doesn't really matter, I guess. I'm just not sure why not having friends here makes it "ok", and why if you made friends here you'd have to quit because of your policy/your identity as "someone who quit social media years ago".
    - droptablemain 5y ago
      Irrelevant definitions aside -- I think everyone can agree there is a dramatic difference between a website like Facebook and a website like HN. The vast majority of the negative psychological triggers, for example, associated with a platform like Facebook, are missing from HN.
      - cryptoz 5y ago
        For what it's worth, my experience is the opposite. The vast majority of negative psychological triggers I see in my online life are on HN, not facebook or twitter or reddit. > I think everyone can agree there is a dramatic difference between a website like Facebook and a website like HN No we cannot all agree on that! For one I completely disagree. Also I 100% consider HN social media. It checks all the boxes the way I see it.
        ranguna 5y ago
        It doesn't check all the boxes. It's much easier for me to forget the people here on HN, there's no "follow", there's not pictures, there's just ad hoc comments with random people. I don't build a relationship with people here. I just read text.
      - yesenadam 5y ago
        Well, I'm not the vast majority hehe. On FB I just chat with my friends around the world and sometimes while doing that, look at their pictures of what they've been up to. It's so nice. My friends are amazing. I've no idea why everyone acts like you are forced to look at your "news feed" on FB. On here, it's all-too-frequent crazy/nasty/snarky/jerk comments. Yes, negative psychological triggers is a good way of putting it! Like the other day[0] I found the people from the US claiming Australians wouldn't have to put up with the lockdown if we only had guns, really disturbing. Then yesterday, the guy who's surprised when people move to Australia, because the people there are ok with censorship[1]. When I discovered !!Con after being on HN a lot it was like "OMG, there are places where programmers congregate and it's actually fun, joyous, positive and supportive!" haha. [0] For reference. Actually reading all these comments is not recommended. What a shitfight. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28451066 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28451066 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28452423 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28452423
  - swader999 5y ago
    There's still the notion of karma points but if it doesn't suck you in then that's ok.
- j-bos 5y ago
  In my experience, Hacker News lacks cults of personality, even small ones like in a friend circle. When I read the comments, I never read the username or timestamp, or votes, because it all looks like boring meta data. Even the back and forth comments can be read on their merit without noticing who's talking. In total, there's hardly any social pressure.
- noahtallen 5y ago
  Adding to the other commenters, I find hacker news similar in form to Reddit. Anonymous-ish aggregators without personal relationships. But it can still be toxic like social media. I didn’t quit social media because I was seeing my friends do cool things. I quit it because it was addictive and because it is stressful to read too many comments and opinions about politics. Those toxic aspects are also present in Reddit and HN, even if they aren’t social media sites per se. HN is a bit better because it’s not deliberately addictive like others, but it’s still extremely easy for HN to be one of the feeds you scroll through addictively in your free time.
benjaminwootton 5y ago
I’m the same. I left Twitter and LinkedIn this year which were my main vices. Probably 70k reasonably organic connections down the drain. However, I feel much happier and relaxed and have better relationships online and offline with a smaller group of people. Would definetly recommend binning social media. It’s a toxic time sink.
- qualudeheart 5y ago
  Twitter in particular is a drug, most normalized among gen Z. I don’t think anyone should use large social media platforms unless they rigorously curate their feeds, and limit their interaction to positive sum games. Twitter is best used as a content aggregator where you follow a few elite accounts and consume their wisdom. Don’t get dragged into tribal fights over politics or darwinian fitness signaling. It’s monkey games all the way down but we have the freedom not to play them.

swader999 5y ago

I think its great that you did this and realized some benefit but isn't HN social media?

droptablemain 5y ago
I wouldn't consider HN social media, but instead a news aggregator with a robust comment section. These things existed long before the emergence of social-media networks. Who am I? Who are you? We don't know. There are no friends, connections, or personal details shared. Interactions are fleeting and temporary.
- corty 5y ago
  Reading and writing HN comments can suck as much time as social media. I'd say if it sucks too much time for your taste, quit. If it doesn't, good for you.
  - droptablemain 5y ago
    Time spent is not the only consideration. Consider how the app is affecting one's psychology. Consider how addictive patterns and the so-called attention economy are changing people's attention spans, patterns of behavior, and thinking.
- yesenadam 5y ago
  And..having friends on here would be somehow bad?.. I like Clay Shirky's definition of social media, (something like) a website where the users create the content, where the thing wouldn't exist in the same way without the users. But the definition of the word doesn't really matter, I guess. I'm just not sure why not having friends here makes it "ok", and why if you made friends here you'd have to quit because of your policy/your identity as "someone who quit social media years ago".
  - droptablemain 5y ago
    Irrelevant definitions aside -- I think everyone can agree there is a dramatic difference between a website like Facebook and a website like HN. The vast majority of the negative psychological triggers, for example, associated with a platform like Facebook, are missing from HN.
    - cryptoz 5y ago
      For what it's worth, my experience is the opposite. The vast majority of negative psychological triggers I see in my online life are on HN, not facebook or twitter or reddit. > I think everyone can agree there is a dramatic difference between a website like Facebook and a website like HN No we cannot all agree on that! For one I completely disagree. Also I 100% consider HN social media. It checks all the boxes the way I see it.
      - ranguna 5y ago
        It doesn't check all the boxes. It's much easier for me to forget the people here on HN, there's no "follow", there's not pictures, there's just ad hoc comments with random people. I don't build a relationship with people here. I just read text.
    - yesenadam 5y ago
      Well, I'm not the vast majority hehe. On FB I just chat with my friends around the world and sometimes while doing that, look at their pictures of what they've been up to. It's so nice. My friends are amazing. I've no idea why everyone acts like you are forced to look at your "news feed" on FB. On here, it's all-too-frequent crazy/nasty/snarky/jerk comments. Yes, negative psychological triggers is a good way of putting it! Like the other day[0] I found the people from the US claiming Australians wouldn't have to put up with the lockdown if we only had guns, really disturbing. Then yesterday, the guy who's surprised when people move to Australia, because the people there are ok with censorship[1]. When I discovered !!Con after being on HN a lot it was like "OMG, there are places where programmers congregate and it's actually fun, joyous, positive and supportive!" haha. [0] For reference. Actually reading all these comments is not recommended. What a shitfight. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28451066 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28451066 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28452423 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28452423
- swader999 5y ago
  There's still the notion of karma points but if it doesn't suck you in then that's ok.
j-bos 5y ago
In my experience, Hacker News lacks cults of personality, even small ones like in a friend circle. When I read the comments, I never read the username or timestamp, or votes, because it all looks like boring meta data. Even the back and forth comments can be read on their merit without noticing who's talking. In total, there's hardly any social pressure.
noahtallen 5y ago
Adding to the other commenters, I find hacker news similar in form to Reddit. Anonymous-ish aggregators without personal relationships. But it can still be toxic like social media. I didn’t quit social media because I was seeing my friends do cool things. I quit it because it was addictive and because it is stressful to read too many comments and opinions about politics. Those toxic aspects are also present in Reddit and HN, even if they aren’t social media sites per se. HN is a bit better because it’s not deliberately addictive like others, but it’s still extremely easy for HN to be one of the feeds you scroll through addictively in your free time.

benjaminwootton 5y ago

I’m the same. I left Twitter and LinkedIn this year which were my main vices. Probably 70k reasonably organic connections down the drain. However, I feel much happier and relaxed and have better relationships online and offline with a smaller group of people. Would definetly recommend binning social media. It’s a toxic time sink.

qualudeheart 5y ago
Twitter in particular is a drug, most normalized among gen Z. I don’t think anyone should use large social media platforms unless they rigorously curate their feeds, and limit their interaction to positive sum games. Twitter is best used as a content aggregator where you follow a few elite accounts and consume their wisdom. Don’t get dragged into tribal fights over politics or darwinian fitness signaling. It’s monkey games all the way down but we have the freedom not to play them.