3 ms·

Ask HN: Why is HN mega addictive?

6 points by modinfo 4y ago

modinfo 4y ago
Every day before I wake up, the first thing I check is HN since 2014.
- slater 4y ago
  BEFORE you wake up? :D
  - axy 4y ago
    Wake up takes from a few clock cycles for simplest mcu to a few hours for protein based nn.
  - PaulHoule 4y ago
    Sometimes I read HN on a tablet before I get out of bed.
    - aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
      > a tablet
ironmagma 4y ago
High quality discussion, high signal-to-noise ratio. No ads, no sponsored content other than Y Combinator job postings.
wruza 4y ago
“Addictive” brings a negative connotation, like pointless time/energy sink or unhealthy use, which HN is not. It’s just a great e-place in which I like to e-hang out.
- aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
  ColloquialHyperbole.com e-five
gregjor 4y ago
Wrong question. I think you meant to ask "Why can't I stop reading HN?" I suspect very few people obsessively look at HN all day. The site doesn't have any inherently addictive quality, especially when compared to other social media platforms that actively try to steal time and attention. A few people might spend too much time scrolling through HN out of boredom or procrastination, they should ask themselves why they choose to do that rather than looking for something "addictive" about the site.
- smazga 4y ago
  I would agree with that. I check it every morning and browse until I catch up with where I left off the day before, reading the interesting things I see on the way. But then I'm done until the next day. No need to keep refreshing.
cercatrova 4y ago
FYI you can set up noprocrast in your profile to make HN stop serving you requests after a set period of time, so you don't get too addicted.
toomuchtodo 4y ago
1. The discussion quality is incredibly high because of dang, participants staying within the forum guidelines knowing mod operating model, and the general disposition of contributors. You can't act like a 4chan or average reddit participant long without getting nuked. 2. The content surfaced is on average interesting and satiating to a curious mind. There is both depth and breadth. Do you like politics? History? Deep technical studies? Science and medical research of all sorts? Take your pick (insert Bo Burnham "welcome to the Internet" here). 3. For those seeking that sort of opportunity, jobs are available with who's hiring threads, YC ads, and serendipitous job offers from HN interactions. It's a virtual Soho House where membership is free and requires no referral but ongoing membership is up to how you behave. (unapologetic HN addict)
- karmakurtisaani 4y ago
  The fact that HN is not selling the users anything really keeps the incentives right. No need to maximize the user base by catering to the lowest common denominator.
  - aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
    Selling nothing, aside from the startup life, of course! ;)
anon2020dot00 4y ago
Same reason why Twitch chat is addictive because we are social creatures and it allows us to feel connected with other people. But just like any addiction, there is diminishing returns to it and so it is likely best in small doses. There is also the reward mechanism when finding a particular interesting tool or idea from the site such as recent launch of Github Co-pilot.
night-rider 4y ago
It’s only addicting if your into STEM and are a technologist of some sort. What’s not to like about a steady stream of tech and programming news to mull over? That said, it’s not all tech and some posts are just something to gratify intellectual curiosity. If you are addicted, take a break from it and come back to it when you’re able. You’ll enjoy it more I promise.
karmakaze 4y ago
Besides the great content that's surfaced and comment threads, there is a negative addictive aspect. The ranking algorithm mixes older popular articles with new articles. This is a perfectly reasonable way to give new posts exposure, but is a terrible way to consume it. Every time we revisit HN during the day we see a number of titles that we'd seen before. Then every once in a while we find a new gem that's either new, or missed a previous time, jackpot. Since I check multiple times per day, I split posts by day and keywords to dramatically cut down on total visit time: hackerer.news
- gabrielsroka 4y ago
  > Every time we revisit HN during the day we see a number of titles that we'd seen before. That's why I wrote a client that keeps track of titles I've seen and doesn't show them to me again. https://gabrielsroka.github.io/hn.html?small https://gabrielsroka.github.io/hn.html?small

6 points by modinfo 4y ago

modinfo 4y ago

Every day before I wake up, the first thing I check is HN since 2014.

slater 4y ago
BEFORE you wake up? :D
- axy 4y ago
  Wake up takes from a few clock cycles for simplest mcu to a few hours for protein based nn.
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  Sometimes I read HN on a tablet before I get out of bed.
  - aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
    > a tablet

ironmagma 4y ago

High quality discussion, high signal-to-noise ratio. No ads, no sponsored content other than Y Combinator job postings.

wruza 4y ago

“Addictive” brings a negative connotation, like pointless time/energy sink or unhealthy use, which HN is not. It’s just a great e-place in which I like to e-hang out.

aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
ColloquialHyperbole.com e-five

gregjor 4y ago

Wrong question. I think you meant to ask "Why can't I stop reading HN?" I suspect very few people obsessively look at HN all day. The site doesn't have any inherently addictive quality, especially when compared to other social media platforms that actively try to steal time and attention. A few people might spend too much time scrolling through HN out of boredom or procrastination, they should ask themselves why they choose to do that rather than looking for something "addictive" about the site.

smazga 4y ago
I would agree with that. I check it every morning and browse until I catch up with where I left off the day before, reading the interesting things I see on the way. But then I'm done until the next day. No need to keep refreshing.

cercatrova 4y ago

FYI you can set up noprocrast in your profile to make HN stop serving you requests after a set period of time, so you don't get too addicted.

toomuchtodo 4y ago

1. The discussion quality is incredibly high because of dang, participants staying within the forum guidelines knowing mod operating model, and the general disposition of contributors. You can't act like a 4chan or average reddit participant long without getting nuked. 2. The content surfaced is on average interesting and satiating to a curious mind. There is both depth and breadth. Do you like politics? History? Deep technical studies? Science and medical research of all sorts? Take your pick (insert Bo Burnham "welcome to the Internet" here). 3. For those seeking that sort of opportunity, jobs are available with who's hiring threads, YC ads, and serendipitous job offers from HN interactions. It's a virtual Soho House where membership is free and requires no referral but ongoing membership is up to how you behave. (unapologetic HN addict)

karmakurtisaani 4y ago
The fact that HN is not selling the users anything really keeps the incentives right. No need to maximize the user base by catering to the lowest common denominator.
- aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
  Selling nothing, aside from the startup life, of course! ;)

anon2020dot00 4y ago

Same reason why Twitch chat is addictive because we are social creatures and it allows us to feel connected with other people. But just like any addiction, there is diminishing returns to it and so it is likely best in small doses. There is also the reward mechanism when finding a particular interesting tool or idea from the site such as recent launch of Github Co-pilot.

night-rider 4y ago

It’s only addicting if your into STEM and are a technologist of some sort. What’s not to like about a steady stream of tech and programming news to mull over? That said, it’s not all tech and some posts are just something to gratify intellectual curiosity. If you are addicted, take a break from it and come back to it when you’re able. You’ll enjoy it more I promise.

karmakaze 4y ago

Besides the great content that's surfaced and comment threads, there is a negative addictive aspect. The ranking algorithm mixes older popular articles with new articles. This is a perfectly reasonable way to give new posts exposure, but is a terrible way to consume it. Every time we revisit HN during the day we see a number of titles that we'd seen before. Then every once in a while we find a new gem that's either new, or missed a previous time, jackpot. Since I check multiple times per day, I split posts by day and keywords to dramatically cut down on total visit time: hackerer.news

gabrielsroka 4y ago
> Every time we revisit HN during the day we see a number of titles that we'd seen before. That's why I wrote a client that keeps track of titles I've seen and doesn't show them to me again. https://gabrielsroka.github.io/hn.html?small https://gabrielsroka.github.io/hn.html?small