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An excellent query, as it neatly encapsulates the only response to the original post. People tend to view every other social media platform negatively except f

An excellent query, as it neatly encapsulates the only response to the original post. People tend to view every other social media platform negatively except for the one they personally use, and they're prepared to staunchly defend their choice no matter what.

Robotbeat 3y ago
On the contrary, I’m always hating on Twitter, which is my primary social platform. I’m just addicted to it.
- catchnear4321 3y ago
  one of the biggest reasons it persists, even after all of the chaos. a fair amount of the customers would have to go to rehab to successfully leave. that isn’t judgement. just facts.
pkdpic 3y ago
I have honestly never met anyone who would defend hacker news or reddit as a good use of their time or pressure their peers to use the platforms more. Are we saying that all social media platforms are the same? Are there teams working on the hacker news platform trying to tweak the algorithms to drive addictive user engagement? Is the sorting algorithm not a matter of public record? Correction to my original comment, I am asking about Instagram / Facebook / Twitter. I know why I (maybe we) go on HN and its because Im bored and weak and Ive never felt manipulated by it or addicted to it or wanted to be on it for more than 15 minutes. I have chores I should be doing.
- BoxFour 3y ago
  > I honestly haven't come across anyone who would advocate for Hacker News or Reddit as a productive use of their time. Really? I actually encounter such individuals quite frequently, even if it's more subtly expressed through statements like, "Hey, did you catch that discussion on HN about X? You should check it out!" > Are we implying that all social media platforms are indistinguishable? In the sense that they all harbor pseudonymous individuals often baiting one another and getting embroiled in futile online conflicts aimed solely at boosting egos (even our current exchange is not exempt from this and I am guilty of it)? Yes, I believe that's a valid assessment of virtually every social media platform.
- michalf6 3y ago
  Me and my friend found our jobs through HN, and the HN common cultural context helped me in that job. It's definitely a value add for my life
- hk__2 3y ago
  > Are we saying that all social media platforms are the same? Nobody is saying that. > Are there teams working on the hacker news platform trying to tweak the algorithms to drive addictive user engagement? Driving addictive user engagement has little to do with being a social media platform, see Netflix for example. > Is the sorting algorithm not a matter of public record? Again, that’s irrelevant. Twitter is more open-source than HN.
- probablynish 3y ago
  > I am asking about Instagram / Facebook / Twitter. I find Instagram pretty valuable, and I've tried to create a habit of going on it every day or two for 15-20 minutes (I have to exert effort to do this). I have close friends now scattered around the world, and one of the best ways (per unit of time) for me to keep up with everyone is to check out their posts/stories, send some kind of DM commenting on their activities, and post a story of my own. Then when we do end up talking on the phone I feel like I know what they've been up to.
kzrdude 3y ago
I'm a lot more fond of forums (like this) than media like twitter, facebook, instagram where it's more about "maintaining a persona". On a forum it would theoretically be about conversation and almost never about the person per se.
- codr7 3y ago
  Oh, I see that game being played quite a lot around here as well.
- Martinussen 3y ago
  If you think HN is less fake than Facebook as far as personas goes that is probably more about your Facebook feed - HN is more homogeneous, certainly, but you don't become cultured because you've build a country club and everyone puts on a fancy accents inside. On a side note, HN is the place person matters more than anywhere I can think of except for YouTube. Is it possible you feel like that because it's closer to your person/ingroup?
  - kzrdude 3y ago
    Do you read comments differently depending on which username posts them? I usually don't. That's the kind of personal I mean.
    - zerbinxx 3y ago
      I certainly don’t, and hacker news has a certain conversational feng shui that leads to most posts reading a lot like everyone else’s. If you read through the top 10 comments on any post, the style will be extremely similar on 9+ of them, which is nice because that way you don’t end up with anyone caring who the other guy is, anyway, you just want to read what people have to say
UhUhUhUh 3y ago
I tend to view all platforms negatively because I am afraid that all are a virtual substitute to actual encounters and debates. They soothe a real need and desire with a sort of hallucinatory satisfaction (human beings are very good at that). Which does tend to create a cycle of addiction or dependency. So by making life more bearable, they also validate and consolidate life as it is. So yeah...
- BoxFour 3y ago
  Numerous individuals grapple with contradictory sentiments regarding their engagement with social media, yet persist in using it. Hacker News isn't an exception in the realm of social media platforms subject to such considerations. It appears that a significant number within this community possess a certain blind spot, often exerting substantial effort to delineate why their favored social media stands apart in some manner from the rest.
- hk__2 3y ago
  > I tend to view all platforms negatively because I am afraid that all are a virtual substitute to actual encounters and debates. They are not virtual substitute, they are actual debates but through a medium different than voice. Of course, the experience is different, but that doesn’t make it "virtual", just like going to the cinema is not a "virtual substitute" to live theater.

Robotbeat 3y ago

On the contrary, I’m always hating on Twitter, which is my primary social platform. I’m just addicted to it.

catchnear4321 3y ago
one of the biggest reasons it persists, even after all of the chaos. a fair amount of the customers would have to go to rehab to successfully leave. that isn’t judgement. just facts.

pkdpic 3y ago

I have honestly never met anyone who would defend hacker news or reddit as a good use of their time or pressure their peers to use the platforms more. Are we saying that all social media platforms are the same? Are there teams working on the hacker news platform trying to tweak the algorithms to drive addictive user engagement? Is the sorting algorithm not a matter of public record? Correction to my original comment, I am asking about Instagram / Facebook / Twitter. I know why I (maybe we) go on HN and its because Im bored and weak and Ive never felt manipulated by it or addicted to it or wanted to be on it for more than 15 minutes. I have chores I should be doing.

BoxFour 3y ago
> I honestly haven't come across anyone who would advocate for Hacker News or Reddit as a productive use of their time. Really? I actually encounter such individuals quite frequently, even if it's more subtly expressed through statements like, "Hey, did you catch that discussion on HN about X? You should check it out!" > Are we implying that all social media platforms are indistinguishable? In the sense that they all harbor pseudonymous individuals often baiting one another and getting embroiled in futile online conflicts aimed solely at boosting egos (even our current exchange is not exempt from this and I am guilty of it)? Yes, I believe that's a valid assessment of virtually every social media platform.
michalf6 3y ago
Me and my friend found our jobs through HN, and the HN common cultural context helped me in that job. It's definitely a value add for my life
hk__2 3y ago
> Are we saying that all social media platforms are the same? Nobody is saying that. > Are there teams working on the hacker news platform trying to tweak the algorithms to drive addictive user engagement? Driving addictive user engagement has little to do with being a social media platform, see Netflix for example. > Is the sorting algorithm not a matter of public record? Again, that’s irrelevant. Twitter is more open-source than HN.
probablynish 3y ago
> I am asking about Instagram / Facebook / Twitter. I find Instagram pretty valuable, and I've tried to create a habit of going on it every day or two for 15-20 minutes (I have to exert effort to do this). I have close friends now scattered around the world, and one of the best ways (per unit of time) for me to keep up with everyone is to check out their posts/stories, send some kind of DM commenting on their activities, and post a story of my own. Then when we do end up talking on the phone I feel like I know what they've been up to.

kzrdude 3y ago

I'm a lot more fond of forums (like this) than media like twitter, facebook, instagram where it's more about "maintaining a persona". On a forum it would theoretically be about conversation and almost never about the person per se.

codr7 3y ago
Oh, I see that game being played quite a lot around here as well.
Martinussen 3y ago
If you think HN is less fake than Facebook as far as personas goes that is probably more about your Facebook feed - HN is more homogeneous, certainly, but you don't become cultured because you've build a country club and everyone puts on a fancy accents inside. On a side note, HN is the place person matters more than anywhere I can think of except for YouTube. Is it possible you feel like that because it's closer to your person/ingroup?
- kzrdude 3y ago
  Do you read comments differently depending on which username posts them? I usually don't. That's the kind of personal I mean.
  - zerbinxx 3y ago
    I certainly don’t, and hacker news has a certain conversational feng shui that leads to most posts reading a lot like everyone else’s. If you read through the top 10 comments on any post, the style will be extremely similar on 9+ of them, which is nice because that way you don’t end up with anyone caring who the other guy is, anyway, you just want to read what people have to say

UhUhUhUh 3y ago

I tend to view all platforms negatively because I am afraid that all are a virtual substitute to actual encounters and debates. They soothe a real need and desire with a sort of hallucinatory satisfaction (human beings are very good at that). Which does tend to create a cycle of addiction or dependency. So by making life more bearable, they also validate and consolidate life as it is. So yeah...

BoxFour 3y ago
Numerous individuals grapple with contradictory sentiments regarding their engagement with social media, yet persist in using it. Hacker News isn't an exception in the realm of social media platforms subject to such considerations. It appears that a significant number within this community possess a certain blind spot, often exerting substantial effort to delineate why their favored social media stands apart in some manner from the rest.
hk__2 3y ago
> I tend to view all platforms negatively because I am afraid that all are a virtual substitute to actual encounters and debates. They are not virtual substitute, they are actual debates but through a medium different than voice. Of course, the experience is different, but that doesn’t make it "virtual", just like going to the cinema is not a "virtual substitute" to live theater.