5 ms·

> My wife and I abandoned all social media ...I'm sorry, I have to point out, you're posting this on what is basically a social media site.

cjonas 2y ago
It's not an advanced algorithmic feed designed with the sole intent to consume as much of you attention as possible...
knighthack 2y ago
I wouldn't classify Hacker News as 'social media' per se. Hacker News does not have the feed-driven approach of other social media that is designed to generate addiction/engagement amongst users; we just like to talk about fun stuff. Hacker News is more of an old-school forum, where we talk about topics, rather than being a true 'social media' experience where you can talk about anything/yourself as a topic. Moreover, the average baseline of discussions here is much higher and more intellectually-driven than discussions on X, IG, FB, and so on. That makes it keenly distinct from other social media designed for more base discussions.
- politelemon 2y ago
  That's a property of some kinds of social media. Not a definition or negation of. The most amusing thing is that discussions on reddit, tumblr, x, etc include the very same kind of denials that gp comment is eliciting regarding those sites being social media. Social media includes content sharing, discussions, and echo chambers, all of which are present here in abundance. Certain content gets promoted over others, and each site assumes see itself above others.
  - asdf000333 2y ago
    What originally set social media apart from forums was that you interact with people you sorta know. Social media apps later drifted to something else, but they still aren't forums. HN is a forum.
vundercind 2y ago
A definition of “social media” that includes HN has been stretched to the point of uselessness. We would have to invent a new term to refer to the things we actually mean by “social media”. Better to just not do that so we can keep having a useful term.
- yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
  Alright, let's use an actual definition: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/social_media https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/social_media says, > (uncountable) Applications or websites allowing users to share content and communicate with one another via the Internet. and HN: [x] is a website [x] allowing users to share content [x] allowing users communicate [x] via the internet Perhaps you should invent a new term for whatever you're talking about? Depending on what you want, I might suggest "algorithmic feeds" (actually that appears to be an extant term, but it might be what you want), or "multimedia social media" (to exclude pure-text sites like this).
  - asdf000333 2y ago
    The Wikipedia definition isn't complete, otherwise Wikipedia itself is social media too. Basically nobody outside of HN would consider HN social media if they saw it.
    - yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
      > The Wikipedia definition isn't complete, otherwise Wikipedia itself is social media too. Actually, that's a decent point; it should probably add something about being primarily focused on the user interactions. That is, Wikipedia isn't social media, but I'd hesitate to say that the talk pages aren't. > Basically nobody outside of HN would consider HN social media if they saw it. And on that point we definitely disagree, though I suppose I could ask around. What do you think makes it not?
      - asdf000333 2y ago
        Social media was originally all about connecting with people you know in real life. Nowadays some of them are about followers you don't always know, but one way or another you're repeatedly interacting with a select pool of people based on who they are. Forums have been around longer than the WWW and are more about interacting with topics than with particular members. Some let you follow or PM someone, but that's not the primary function, and HN doesn't even have that. Some social sites have expanded to cover forum-like roles too, like Facebook (Pages). But most people won't think that far. They'll see HN and say nah, this isn't social media.
nkrisc 2y ago
Ok fine, I’ll have to be more specific I guess: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and the like (I don’t know of there’s something else new). The algorithmic crap where you’ll find AI generated videos of a fake Elon Musk taking to visit sense website or wherever the outrage du jour happens.

cjonas 2y ago

It's not an advanced algorithmic feed designed with the sole intent to consume as much of you attention as possible...

knighthack 2y ago

I wouldn't classify Hacker News as 'social media' per se. Hacker News does not have the feed-driven approach of other social media that is designed to generate addiction/engagement amongst users; we just like to talk about fun stuff. Hacker News is more of an old-school forum, where we talk about topics, rather than being a true 'social media' experience where you can talk about anything/yourself as a topic. Moreover, the average baseline of discussions here is much higher and more intellectually-driven than discussions on X, IG, FB, and so on. That makes it keenly distinct from other social media designed for more base discussions.

politelemon 2y ago
That's a property of some kinds of social media. Not a definition or negation of. The most amusing thing is that discussions on reddit, tumblr, x, etc include the very same kind of denials that gp comment is eliciting regarding those sites being social media. Social media includes content sharing, discussions, and echo chambers, all of which are present here in abundance. Certain content gets promoted over others, and each site assumes see itself above others.
- asdf000333 2y ago
  What originally set social media apart from forums was that you interact with people you sorta know. Social media apps later drifted to something else, but they still aren't forums. HN is a forum.

vundercind 2y ago

A definition of “social media” that includes HN has been stretched to the point of uselessness. We would have to invent a new term to refer to the things we actually mean by “social media”. Better to just not do that so we can keep having a useful term.

yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
Alright, let's use an actual definition: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/social_media https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/social_media says, > (uncountable) Applications or websites allowing users to share content and communicate with one another via the Internet. and HN: [x] is a website [x] allowing users to share content [x] allowing users communicate [x] via the internet Perhaps you should invent a new term for whatever you're talking about? Depending on what you want, I might suggest "algorithmic feeds" (actually that appears to be an extant term, but it might be what you want), or "multimedia social media" (to exclude pure-text sites like this).
- asdf000333 2y ago
  The Wikipedia definition isn't complete, otherwise Wikipedia itself is social media too. Basically nobody outside of HN would consider HN social media if they saw it.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 2y ago
    > The Wikipedia definition isn't complete, otherwise Wikipedia itself is social media too. Actually, that's a decent point; it should probably add something about being primarily focused on the user interactions. That is, Wikipedia isn't social media, but I'd hesitate to say that the talk pages aren't. > Basically nobody outside of HN would consider HN social media if they saw it. And on that point we definitely disagree, though I suppose I could ask around. What do you think makes it not?
    - asdf000333 2y ago
      Social media was originally all about connecting with people you know in real life. Nowadays some of them are about followers you don't always know, but one way or another you're repeatedly interacting with a select pool of people based on who they are. Forums have been around longer than the WWW and are more about interacting with topics than with particular members. Some let you follow or PM someone, but that's not the primary function, and HN doesn't even have that. Some social sites have expanded to cover forum-like roles too, like Facebook (Pages). But most people won't think that far. They'll see HN and say nah, this isn't social media.

nkrisc 2y ago

Ok fine, I’ll have to be more specific I guess: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and the like (I don’t know of there’s something else new). The algorithmic crap where you’ll find AI generated videos of a fake Elon Musk taking to visit sense website or wherever the outrage du jour happens.