Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#81

Post by danieka » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 3:31 PM UTC

matwood wrote: post #76

graeme wrote: post #6

Hacker News is like a slot machine with positive expected value. Most days are interesting or sometimes a waste of time. Occasionally you see something like altering. I’ve gotten one big business idea that changed how I ran things and made me a lot of money. Like I mean permanently life altering my business worked instead of didn’t amount of money. But most days are not like that. You also get some information early.…

> That is a highly filtered signal and equivalent to inside information. As a person who gets paid convert knowledge into product, HN is an easy place to check a once or twice/day to keep up to date on decently filtered knowledge/information. I have other sources I follow, but as you said, if it hits HN it's probably important enough that I should know it exist. And yes, this is a vague answer because that base level…

That sounds like a very interesting job. Without giving away too much, what other sources do you use?

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#82

Post by xyzzy4 » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 3:33 PM UTC

I learned about Bitcoin from HN in 2011.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#83

Post by fortran77 » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 3:33 PM UTC

I use it to learn about the type of people I'm dealing with in the Tech Industry, and how they speak and act when they're peudo-anonymous.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#84

Post by aasasd » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 3:35 PM UTC

Not tangible I guess, but HN gave me rest from Reddit's stupidity and incivility. I do want some social web-hangout, and migrated from one place to another—and while Reddit is (or was) better than what we have in my country, it's overrun by teens and tends to bring out the worst in them. HN has its share of dumb crowdthink, but the contrast with Reddit is illuminating, so that now I notice when I begin to act or think like people on Reddit do.

After this, going back to local sites where anger, trolling and fool-playing are just normal adult behavior, is outright painful.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#85

Post by alexilliamson » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 3:38 PM UTC

tiddles wrote: post #51

dave_sullivan wrote: post #7

Yes, it's a waste of time, I would leave and not return. I haven't made any money or started any companies or met any wives on this site, it's a total joke.

I only browse sites with an average ROI of at least 1 wife per week.

Honestly I've been seeing that ROI from HN for quite a while. Sometimes a wife per day! I would say to spend more time on the wife threads.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#86

Post by intrasight » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 3:38 PM UTC

An example. I just read this and enjoyed it very much.

https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=5359

Certainly would not have come across that except for HN.

On HN, I find interesting articles with the added benefit of thoughtful conversation about said article.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#87

Post by hnnoob » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 3:41 PM UTC

the tech universe is too vast, HN provides a perspective in a world where you can aim and shoot for 10,000 years.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#88

Post by mv4 » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 3:41 PM UTC

Got a new career from one of the "who is hiring" posts.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#89

Post by mellosouls » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 3:47 PM UTC

I've enjoyed reading and engaging in discussions with reasonable people (who I sometimes fervently disagree with) on HN. Nothing more; a diversion at worst, a source of information from which I can learn at best (signal to noise, compared to your average forum).

It's never occurred to me to judge its benefits solely (or at all!) in material or monetary value as implied, and I wouldn't want to see the world in such a narrow way.

Re: Ask HN: What tangible benefits did you get from spending time on HN?

#90

Post by wsostt » Sat, Mar 06, 2021, 3:50 PM UTC

So many. I’m a product owner so I’m interested in a lot of things that come across HN: management resources, new technology, trending ideas and concepts, and other stuff that I didn’t know I needed to know.

The real value comes from the thoughtful conversations in the comments. An article on Snowflake is going to touch in competitors, management advice is going to have a link to a book that goes deeper, etc...