> Metafilter charges you $5 to gain the ability to post. It's a little better than Reddit, but ultimately the discussion software is so bad it's hard to tell if

> Metafilter charges you $5 to gain the ability to post. It's a little better than Reddit, but ultimately the discussion software is so bad it's hard to tell if this works or not. I had forgotten about Metafilter. It's been around since 1999, which is probably the reason for the poor site design. But that also shows that it's possible to create a social news website that doesn't turn to trash within 5 years. I'd say that it's worth giving a Reddit clone with a Metafilter-style pay-to-post system a shot. I'd do it myself, but I don't possess the requisite time or non-technical knowledge. Hopefully someone does, because I could see myself paying $5/month for a social news site that can indefinitely restrict itself to intelligent and on-topic commentary. > I think my ultimate solution will be to return to blogging, and when I read an interesting article, write a detailed response. Then I will ignore the rest of the discussion. I like this option as well, but primarily for a different reason. It's a well-known fact that our brains are plastic, and I've noticed that my shift from reading and writing long-form, thorougly reviewed pieces to short-form comments (like the one I'm writing right now) has severely affected my ability to hunker down and concentrate on detailed work. Perhaps it's just that my expectations aren't that high, but I don't particularly share the OP's commiserations regarding HN. I still think it's a nice site that provides me with news and corresponding insightful commentary on the latest in the startup/tech scene. However, for the sake of my intellect, I probably need to start cutting back on the internet in general and return to reading more books. Unfortunately, the internet is quite the addiction, so it's a bit of a struggle to take the first step ;/