I find myself reading the comments on HN before the articles most of the time...
It usually brings a better/shorter description and decent reaction.
Only when I don't fully understand the arguments then I read the article
Ask HN: I read comments before the article, do you?
1–10 of 55 posts
Re: Ask HN: I read comments before the article, do you?
#2I usually don't. I don't want the comments to color my thinking on the article.
The exceptions arise when I have already read up on the topic, so I might read the comments to see how the article effects others, then go read it to see what slant it has.
Re: Ask HN: I read comments before the article, do you?
#3[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: I read comments before the article, do you?
#4Often. Sometimes I don’t read the article at all because I’m more interested in the conversation happening than I am in whatever the article was about. And it’s common for HN comments to evolve into a conversation about something the article is tangential.
Re: Ask HN: I read comments before the article, do you?
#5Yes, and I often don't read the article at all, especially if it's blogspam that can be largely inferred from the title.
e.g. "Why I like small projects"
Re: Ask HN: I read comments before the article, do you?
#6Depends. If I don't understand from the headline what it is all about I check the top comments. If the topic sounds like genuinely interesting technical information I read the article first. And everything between those 2 extremes depending on the phase of the moon...
Re: Ask HN: I read comments before the article, do you?
#7I used to, but I'm trying not to anymore. I've seen enough instances where the top comment was either irrelevant or outright wrong about the article in question.
Re: Ask HN: I read comments before the article, do you?
#8About 50/50 depending on the title (and platform linked).
Re: Ask HN: I read comments before the article, do you?
#9You read the articles?
Re: Ask HN: I read comments before the article, do you?
#10usually. Depends on how much I care about the article. If it is squarely relevant to my interests, I click to it directly. Otherwise, the HN commentary is often more enlightening (or at least amusing).