4 ms·

You are writing this using the best Reddit replacement. If HN had a subforum feature and an ability to embed pictures or videos in posts, or some kind of markd

You are writing this using the best Reddit replacement. If HN had a subforum feature and an ability to embed pictures or videos in posts, or some kind of markdown light syntax, Reddit usage would die for me.

zirgs 3y ago
But how would HN avoid creating its own /r/all ?
- dredmorbius 3y ago
  HN is /r/all. If not in the content-mix sense, then in the sense that there is one and only one homepage, and that it's everything posted to the site. Though in truth: there are some alternate views. "Pool", "Invited", and "Best" are subsets of submissions. You can also do a blank search on Algolia and set a time window to view the best items of the past day, week, month, year, or other arbitrary interval.
Tainnor 3y ago
reasons why HN doesn't work as a reddit replacement: - It has no subforums - Almost everyone here is in IT, other topics only get discussed when they are interesting to IT people. On reddit, you can talk to historians, mathematicians, language enthusiasts, fans of your favourite series, etc. - HN usability on mobile is... yeah - HN is text only, that's already difficult for programming, but would make talking about e.g. mathematics really annoying, and for people who want to share art, that's even more obviously not going to work - also, I really wish you could block users
- jeltz 3y ago
  I agree with everything except the mobile usability. Hacker News has some of the best mobile usability of the websites I am using. It is not perfect but it is way better than Reddit. Hacker News is very comfortable to read on mobile and the only thing which could be improved is the too small voting buttons.
  - vesinisa 3y ago
    Thanks, zoomed in to upvote
  - dredmorbius 3y ago
    Reddit are intentionally sabotaging the mobile Web experience to drive people to the app. Of course, that often backfires. HN hasn't actively sabotaged mobile. But it hasn't gone out of its way to make the experience better either.
  - Tainnor 3y ago
    I agree that Reddit is borderline unusable in its mobile website, and the official app is ad-ridden, but 3rd party apps (the ones they're trying to kill) are fine. I find HN a royal pain on mobile tbh. Everything clickable is so small.
    - Double_a_92 3y ago
      To be fair almost all websites are a pain on mobile. My smartphone is becoming more and more a messaging app and alarm clock ._.
- miroljub 3y ago
  I agree with you, and that's why I listed some missing things that would help it to be a Reddit replacement. Regarding mobile clients, there are at least a few third party mobile clients on both Android and iPhone that work quite well.
  - Tainnor 3y ago
    that's a good point, maybe I should try some of the mobile clients
- Panzer04 3y ago
  What’s the problem with HN mobile?
  - pjc50 3y ago
    Teeny-tiny arrows.
  - randac 3y ago
    Thread with many replies, the deepest replies end up very squashed right in portrait, it's annoying to read. As is the flag/dead style but that's another matter. Obviously nothing I can't work around.
jacquesm 3y ago
And HN would die for me.
pjc50 3y ago
> ability to embed pictures or videos in posts dang does not want to have to look at CSAM.
dang 3y ago
Reddit is 100 times as big as HN. I think (well, it's a pet theory at least) that internet forum dynamics change at each order of magnitude. If so, then HN can't be Reddit no matter what features we build.

zirgs 3y ago

But how would HN avoid creating its own /r/all ?

dredmorbius 3y ago
HN is /r/all. If not in the content-mix sense, then in the sense that there is one and only one homepage, and that it's everything posted to the site. Though in truth: there are some alternate views. "Pool", "Invited", and "Best" are subsets of submissions. You can also do a blank search on Algolia and set a time window to view the best items of the past day, week, month, year, or other arbitrary interval.

Tainnor 3y ago

reasons why HN doesn't work as a reddit replacement: - It has no subforums - Almost everyone here is in IT, other topics only get discussed when they are interesting to IT people. On reddit, you can talk to historians, mathematicians, language enthusiasts, fans of your favourite series, etc. - HN usability on mobile is... yeah - HN is text only, that's already difficult for programming, but would make talking about e.g. mathematics really annoying, and for people who want to share art, that's even more obviously not going to work - also, I really wish you could block users

jeltz 3y ago
I agree with everything except the mobile usability. Hacker News has some of the best mobile usability of the websites I am using. It is not perfect but it is way better than Reddit. Hacker News is very comfortable to read on mobile and the only thing which could be improved is the too small voting buttons.
- vesinisa 3y ago
  Thanks, zoomed in to upvote
- dredmorbius 3y ago
  Reddit are intentionally sabotaging the mobile Web experience to drive people to the app. Of course, that often backfires. HN hasn't actively sabotaged mobile. But it hasn't gone out of its way to make the experience better either.
- Tainnor 3y ago
  I agree that Reddit is borderline unusable in its mobile website, and the official app is ad-ridden, but 3rd party apps (the ones they're trying to kill) are fine. I find HN a royal pain on mobile tbh. Everything clickable is so small.
  - Double_a_92 3y ago
    To be fair almost all websites are a pain on mobile. My smartphone is becoming more and more a messaging app and alarm clock ._.
miroljub 3y ago
I agree with you, and that's why I listed some missing things that would help it to be a Reddit replacement. Regarding mobile clients, there are at least a few third party mobile clients on both Android and iPhone that work quite well.
- Tainnor 3y ago
  that's a good point, maybe I should try some of the mobile clients
Panzer04 3y ago
What’s the problem with HN mobile?
- pjc50 3y ago
  Teeny-tiny arrows.
- randac 3y ago
  Thread with many replies, the deepest replies end up very squashed right in portrait, it's annoying to read. As is the flag/dead style but that's another matter. Obviously nothing I can't work around.

jacquesm 3y ago

And HN would die for me.

pjc50 3y ago

> ability to embed pictures or videos in posts dang does not want to have to look at CSAM.

dang 3y ago

Reddit is 100 times as big as HN. I think (well, it's a pet theory at least) that internet forum dynamics change at each order of magnitude. If so, then HN can't be Reddit no matter what features we build.