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It's so strange to me that HN has this view of social media, but not other things, like fast food. Fast food uses deceptive advertising and purposefully tries t

It's so strange to me that HN has this view of social media, but not other things, like fast food. Fast food uses deceptive advertising and purposefully tries to get kids addicted to their product; which slowly kills them over time. But I remember HN being against sugar taxes, and other laws to help prevent it. But for some reason social media is different? I don't see why it would be. Are the people on HN pushing for social media bans also pushing for unionization, banning pharmaceutical commercials, and preventing fast food stores in highschools? Because if they aren't it seems really hypocritical.

jondwillis 3y ago
I don’t really have a dog in this fight, but I think you have presented a false dichotomy, re: meta <> fast food ads <> sugar tax opposition. HN also isn’t a monolith…
moritzwarhier 3y ago
It's because its on an entirely different level, a meta level you might say. As gp correctly put it, they are brokers for human mindshare.
rurp 3y ago
For one, HN isn't a monolith. There are plenty of people on here who agree and disagree on each of the topics you listed. On the topic of social media, I think that there is a widespread belief that we could have tools that give us the social benefits of social media without including all of the toxic manipulative tracking and algorithmic feeds. Unfortunately the market has become dominated by a few maximally greedy companies, which sucks but doesn't have a clear solution.
- plussed_reader 3y ago
  '...doesn't have a clear solution.' So what are some tools we have available to remove the profit motive from this situation?
  - lupire 3y ago
    Taking away the profits and spending them on victims.
pxeboot 3y ago
> But I remember HN being against sugar taxes, and other laws to help prevent it. Aren't sugar taxes what led to the use of high fructose corn syrup, which is arguably worse than sugar?
- lupire 3y ago
  Different tax. That's sugar cane import tariff. Sugar taxes are consumption taxes that apply to all forms of sugar, including corn syrup.
colpabar 3y ago
> But for some reason social media is different? Correct! They are completely different things. Cheap unhealthy burgers != social media platforms. Just because you can draw an analogy between two things does not make them the same, and so having different opinions about them does not make one a hypocrite. But the better point to make, as the sibling comments have, is that saying "HN thinks X" is entirely meaningless because HN is not one person.
- theossuary 3y ago
  That's why I said "Are the people on HN," I was recognizing that HN isn't a single monolith. Glad to see you read far enough to see that. As to how they're different, I don't see it. This was a chance for proponents to describe how it's different, but nobody has; they've just said it is. All I see is a group of people begging the government to take away a freedom, instead of allowing parents a choice in how they raise their children.
WheatMillington 3y ago
That is such a terrible equivalence, I don't even know where to start.
Syonyk 3y ago
I'm not a great fan of fast food, though it didn't seem relevant to bring up in this topic... However, I actually do draw a distinction between "things you have to go seek out," and "things that come to you in your home/pocket/etc." I don't particularly care for gambling, and I'm the sort that goes to Vegas for conferences and doesn't even gamble a penny. But I honestly don't have a huge problem with Vegas existing. I recognize some people enjoy gambling, and... fine, whatever. I do have a very serious problem with "casino apps" on phones/tablets/etc, and the "loot box" mechanics of games that bring that sort of thing into your pocket - without any of the regulation of Vegas. There are some quite strict limits on "how much you can screw over your customers," and casinos have to abide by them. There are no such limits on slot machine apps, and while you can go to Vegas and come away richer (it wouldn't work if nobody did), there's literally no way to achieve that with app-based gambling machines. You 100% lose all your money. But to assert that nobody cares about fast food in a thread about social media is still... weird.

jondwillis 3y ago

I don’t really have a dog in this fight, but I think you have presented a false dichotomy, re: meta <> fast food ads <> sugar tax opposition. HN also isn’t a monolith…

moritzwarhier 3y ago

It's because its on an entirely different level, a meta level you might say. As gp correctly put it, they are brokers for human mindshare.

rurp 3y ago

For one, HN isn't a monolith. There are plenty of people on here who agree and disagree on each of the topics you listed. On the topic of social media, I think that there is a widespread belief that we could have tools that give us the social benefits of social media without including all of the toxic manipulative tracking and algorithmic feeds. Unfortunately the market has become dominated by a few maximally greedy companies, which sucks but doesn't have a clear solution.

plussed_reader 3y ago
'...doesn't have a clear solution.' So what are some tools we have available to remove the profit motive from this situation?
- lupire 3y ago
  Taking away the profits and spending them on victims.

pxeboot 3y ago

> But I remember HN being against sugar taxes, and other laws to help prevent it. Aren't sugar taxes what led to the use of high fructose corn syrup, which is arguably worse than sugar?

lupire 3y ago
Different tax. That's sugar cane import tariff. Sugar taxes are consumption taxes that apply to all forms of sugar, including corn syrup.

colpabar 3y ago

> But for some reason social media is different? Correct! They are completely different things. Cheap unhealthy burgers != social media platforms. Just because you can draw an analogy between two things does not make them the same, and so having different opinions about them does not make one a hypocrite. But the better point to make, as the sibling comments have, is that saying "HN thinks X" is entirely meaningless because HN is not one person.

theossuary 3y ago
That's why I said "Are the people on HN," I was recognizing that HN isn't a single monolith. Glad to see you read far enough to see that. As to how they're different, I don't see it. This was a chance for proponents to describe how it's different, but nobody has; they've just said it is. All I see is a group of people begging the government to take away a freedom, instead of allowing parents a choice in how they raise their children.

WheatMillington 3y ago

That is such a terrible equivalence, I don't even know where to start.

Syonyk 3y ago

I'm not a great fan of fast food, though it didn't seem relevant to bring up in this topic... However, I actually do draw a distinction between "things you have to go seek out," and "things that come to you in your home/pocket/etc." I don't particularly care for gambling, and I'm the sort that goes to Vegas for conferences and doesn't even gamble a penny. But I honestly don't have a huge problem with Vegas existing. I recognize some people enjoy gambling, and... fine, whatever. I do have a very serious problem with "casino apps" on phones/tablets/etc, and the "loot box" mechanics of games that bring that sort of thing into your pocket - without any of the regulation of Vegas. There are some quite strict limits on "how much you can screw over your customers," and casinos have to abide by them. There are no such limits on slot machine apps, and while you can go to Vegas and come away richer (it wouldn't work if nobody did), there's literally no way to achieve that with app-based gambling machines. You 100% lose all your money. But to assert that nobody cares about fast food in a thread about social media is still... weird.