4 ms·

Don't forget that a lot of people get on the internet for leisure.

jacquesm 12y ago
I used to work in a bicylce shop as a kid. In the workshop over the bench hung a sign that read "if you've got nothing to do, don't do it here". It was rude but quite effective. The next level up (for those that didn't get the hint) was that the guy running the shop would pretend to 'oil the spokes' (as if that was ever needed) causing several people to hastily depart the workshop area because they were being splashed with lube oil. He would pretend to see a lot less well and shake a lot more than he usually did during these episodes. Super nice guy by the way, long since deceased. One problem with internet websites is that it is not clearly separated into work or leisure, which leads to people in leisure mode disrupting other people's work mode. This is not an easy problem to solve and I'm sure that this is not a binary issue either, but some form of continuum.
- saraid216 12y ago
  > This is not an easy problem to solve and I'm sure that this is not a binary issue either, but some form of continuum. It's not even a continuum; it depends heavily on cultural notions of how life is divided, or should be divided. The home/work/third place trichotomy isn't universal in the first place, and people on the internet have exhibited plenty of evidence that they consider it every combination of the three.
- vilhelm_s 12y ago
  How does that apply here though --- surely everyone browsing HN is doing it for leisure?
  - saraid216 12y ago
    My browsing of HN is leisure about 70% of the time. At other times, I do various kinds of work (in that I am making a concerted effort to create value, rather than intending to enjoy myself) and very occasionally do "home" type things (senses of belonging, kinship, shared struggle, etc.).
    - vilhelm_s 12y ago
      By creating value, do you mean that the comments you write are themselves valuable, or do you mean things like driving traffic to/recruiting for your company?
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    Surely not.
  - instakill 12y ago
    People that post Show HN links are not here for leisure. They want feedback, new users, critique etc. There are many more examples I'm sure.
Yunk 12y ago
> Don't forget that a lot of people get on the internet for leisure. There is a purpose besides leisure, selling to the leisure group or building technologies to improve the internet's effectiveness for selling to the leisure group? Looking at pictures of cats, pornography and buying trinkets are all clearly leisure activities.. but commenting on vaporous articles about living underwater is something I expect to get academic credit for according to the social norms established by scholastic reports.

I used to work in a bicylce shop as a kid. In the workshop over the bench hung a sign that read "if you've got nothing to do, don't do it here". It was rude but quite effective. The next level up (for those that didn't get the hint) was that the guy running the shop would pretend to 'oil the spokes' (as if that was ever needed) causing several people to hastily depart the workshop area because they were being splashed with lube oil. He would pretend to see a lot less well and shake a lot more than he usually did during these episodes. Super nice guy by the way, long since deceased. One problem with internet websites is that it is not clearly separated into work or leisure, which leads to people in leisure mode disrupting other people's work mode. This is not an easy problem to solve and I'm sure that this is not a binary issue either, but some form of continuum.

saraid216 12y ago
> This is not an easy problem to solve and I'm sure that this is not a binary issue either, but some form of continuum. It's not even a continuum; it depends heavily on cultural notions of how life is divided, or should be divided. The home/work/third place trichotomy isn't universal in the first place, and people on the internet have exhibited plenty of evidence that they consider it every combination of the three.
vilhelm_s 12y ago
How does that apply here though --- surely everyone browsing HN is doing it for leisure?
- saraid216 12y ago
  My browsing of HN is leisure about 70% of the time. At other times, I do various kinds of work (in that I am making a concerted effort to create value, rather than intending to enjoy myself) and very occasionally do "home" type things (senses of belonging, kinship, shared struggle, etc.).
  - vilhelm_s 12y ago
    By creating value, do you mean that the comments you write are themselves valuable, or do you mean things like driving traffic to/recruiting for your company?
- jacquesm 12y ago
  Surely not.
- instakill 12y ago
  People that post Show HN links are not here for leisure. They want feedback, new users, critique etc. There are many more examples I'm sure.

Yunk 12y ago

> Don't forget that a lot of people get on the internet for leisure. There is a purpose besides leisure, selling to the leisure group or building technologies to improve the internet's effectiveness for selling to the leisure group? Looking at pictures of cats, pornography and buying trinkets are all clearly leisure activities.. but commenting on vaporous articles about living underwater is something I expect to get academic credit for according to the social norms established by scholastic reports.