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> I go directly to the hn comments, and only rarely do I click the link itself. > not sure what there is to be frustrated about. You actually just explained w

by lapcat 3y ago

> I go directly to the hn comments, and only rarely do I click the link itself. > not sure what there is to be frustrated about. You actually just explained what there is to be frustrated about.

antonvs 3y ago
It's absolutely incredible to see people proudly saying "only rarely do I click the link itself." They are not "part of the problem". They are the problem.
- celeritascelery 3y ago
  If you are going to comment, then you should read the article. But most things posted here (especially by science and tech journalists) are not worth reading and you can get right to the actual information by looking at the comments. No need to read all that extra fluff from some content mill. If it still sounds interesting, then go read it.
  - lapcat 3y ago
    > you can get right to the actual information by looking at the comments There's a tragedy of the commons here, where the majority is going to the comments first without reading the article, expecting the other commenters to inform them about the article. Given this common practice, what makes you think you can get right to the actual information by looking at the comments? They're often less reliable than the articles themselves.
    - Hugsun 3y ago
      I don't see how that analogy applies. There is no depletable resource being exhausted. There is a Nash equilibrium where experts and those who are interested read/know the topic of the article and write some commentary about it. The most insightful comments usually receive more upvotes from everyone (including non-readers). reading the top comments is thus generally a good timesave to risk of being misinformed tradeoff that many users have decided to be worth taking. Being less reliable can be acceptable if it reduces the time to read by 10x or more.
      - lapcat 3y ago
        > The most insightful comments usually receive more upvotes from everyone (including non-readers). That's highly questionable.
        Hugsun 3y ago
        It depends on the topic, certainly. For technical and non-controversial subjects I believe it can be relied on. If it fails, the damage is usually low.
    - dartos 3y ago
      I think this whole thread is probably one of the things bothers the author. Just the judgy attitude of the whole thing. My comment included
  - AlienRobot 3y ago
    HN, Reddit, and sites alike have an extremely awkward relationship with "content mills." They're link aggregators, so threads start from links. But nobody reads the linked articles, they only head the "headline." In other words, the headline is the title of the thread, and the comments are a discussion starting from that title. So what is the linked content? From the user's perspective, the linked article is just another comment. Which for users somehow make sense. The "author" is just an user with a site making a comment on a topic on their own website, while the thread are users without their own websites making comments on the same topic. If a single "comment" is just somebody's opinion, then it's highly likely most "are not worth reading," including the linked article. So why is the link necessary in first place then? It certainly doesn't feel like it's needed. You could make a social media where to start a new thread you just type the topic and that's enough. We could also have the extreme opposite: we could have a social media where you also just type the topic to start a thread, but all "comments" must be links to articles. I wonder if there's a social media like that. It would be interesting to compare what the threads look like.
- AlienRobot 3y ago
  They aren't seeking information. They are seeking drama and attention. A thread has many users (eyeballs) looking at it, talking about things. If it's drama they want they may find it in the comments. If it's attention they want they may engage with the users in the comments like they would be able to in a chat room. The easiest way to get someone to actually read your hot takes isn't to post it on Twitter where you have no followers but to reply in a tangential and practically non-sequitur way to someone in a thread where there's a lot of eyeballs looking at the comments. You know, exactly the way I'm doing right now.

by lapcat 3y ago

> I go directly to the hn comments, and only rarely do I click the link itself. > not sure what there is to be frustrated about. You actually just explained what there is to be frustrated about.

antonvs 3y ago

It's absolutely incredible to see people proudly saying "only rarely do I click the link itself." They are not "part of the problem". They are the problem.

celeritascelery 3y ago
If you are going to comment, then you should read the article. But most things posted here (especially by science and tech journalists) are not worth reading and you can get right to the actual information by looking at the comments. No need to read all that extra fluff from some content mill. If it still sounds interesting, then go read it.
- lapcat 3y ago
  > you can get right to the actual information by looking at the comments There's a tragedy of the commons here, where the majority is going to the comments first without reading the article, expecting the other commenters to inform them about the article. Given this common practice, what makes you think you can get right to the actual information by looking at the comments? They're often less reliable than the articles themselves.
  - Hugsun 3y ago
    I don't see how that analogy applies. There is no depletable resource being exhausted. There is a Nash equilibrium where experts and those who are interested read/know the topic of the article and write some commentary about it. The most insightful comments usually receive more upvotes from everyone (including non-readers). reading the top comments is thus generally a good timesave to risk of being misinformed tradeoff that many users have decided to be worth taking. Being less reliable can be acceptable if it reduces the time to read by 10x or more.
    - lapcat 3y ago
      > The most insightful comments usually receive more upvotes from everyone (including non-readers). That's highly questionable.
      - Hugsun 3y ago
        It depends on the topic, certainly. For technical and non-controversial subjects I believe it can be relied on. If it fails, the damage is usually low.
  - dartos 3y ago
    I think this whole thread is probably one of the things bothers the author. Just the judgy attitude of the whole thing. My comment included
- AlienRobot 3y ago
  HN, Reddit, and sites alike have an extremely awkward relationship with "content mills." They're link aggregators, so threads start from links. But nobody reads the linked articles, they only head the "headline." In other words, the headline is the title of the thread, and the comments are a discussion starting from that title. So what is the linked content? From the user's perspective, the linked article is just another comment. Which for users somehow make sense. The "author" is just an user with a site making a comment on a topic on their own website, while the thread are users without their own websites making comments on the same topic. If a single "comment" is just somebody's opinion, then it's highly likely most "are not worth reading," including the linked article. So why is the link necessary in first place then? It certainly doesn't feel like it's needed. You could make a social media where to start a new thread you just type the topic and that's enough. We could also have the extreme opposite: we could have a social media where you also just type the topic to start a thread, but all "comments" must be links to articles. I wonder if there's a social media like that. It would be interesting to compare what the threads look like.
AlienRobot 3y ago
They aren't seeking information. They are seeking drama and attention. A thread has many users (eyeballs) looking at it, talking about things. If it's drama they want they may find it in the comments. If it's attention they want they may engage with the users in the comments like they would be able to in a chat room. The easiest way to get someone to actually read your hot takes isn't to post it on Twitter where you have no followers but to reply in a tangential and practically non-sequitur way to someone in a thread where there's a lot of eyeballs looking at the comments. You know, exactly the way I'm doing right now.