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Ask HN: Do you consider Hacker News to be a positive/useful use of your time?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you consider Hacker News to be a positive/useful use of your time?

#61

Post by robertlagrant »

slyall wrote: post #49
robertlagrant wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> HN definitely has a techbros vibe. I guess that's by design but it's not very inclusive. What does this mean?

It means the stereotypical commenters are 20-30 year old, white, male, single, programmers, living in the Bay Area and making $400,000 per year. Which is good if you want to know the latest Google gossip or many tech questions. But not as good when we are talking about topics that are less directly in the experience of the above people. As an example when you are talking about public transport they have experience th…

> It means the stereotypical commenters are 20-30 year old, white, male, single, programmers, living in the Bay Area and making $400,000 per year

I appreciate the clarity. What I don't understand is that given "stereotypical" and "typical" are definitely not synonyms, why do you think your stereotype reflects the actual demographics?

Re: Ask HN: Do you consider Hacker News to be a positive/useful use of your time?

#62

Post by robertlagrant »

bantunes wrote: post #50
robertlagrant wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> HN definitely has a techbros vibe. I guess that's by design but it's not very inclusive. What does this mean?

Have a look here https://twitter.com/shit_hn_says

Sure, but...selection bias? I don't understand the thought process.

Re: Ask HN: Do you consider Hacker News to be a positive/useful use of your time?

#63

Post by matthewfelgate »

Good question.

Maybe I've found some good services or products on Hacker News I wouldn't have found otherwise.

But there is a lot of noise for not very much good stuff.

Even though the internet is 20+ years old now, I still find it incredibly bad a recommending stuff I'm actually interested in.

Re: Ask HN: Do you consider Hacker News to be a positive/useful use of your time?

#64

Post by codingdave »

HN has been a net positive for me, as it does keep me informed of new trends in our industry. It does come with a startup bias, but as long as you don't take the culture here as representative of the entire industry, there is good information and discussion.

That being said, it is possible that it can be addictive for a specific person. My usage of HN is a daily reading session each morning, maybe add a comment or two, and maybe glance again later when taking a break from other things. If you find yourself on this site all day, or fretting over how your comments are doing, there could be a problem.

Re: Ask HN: Do you consider Hacker News to be a positive/useful use of your time?

#67

Post by d--b »

Yes.

I personally don't use any other social media site. But if I wasn't reading HN, I'd probably do something else that has less value or that would keep me busy longer (like playing the guitar or cooking stuff).

It does keep me up to date on most things tech (which I am expected to talk about socially, cause I am the tech guy among the people I know), plus it has a bunch of really interesting articles on random subjects which is refreshing.

My wife's in the art world. And because there is no HN of the art world, she has to check facebook to stay connected professionally, and that's a really bad thing cause she keeps being tempted by these algorithmically-optimized crap content.

HN is somewhat addictive, but it's one of the only ones that doesn't need to monetize your addiction.

Re: Ask HN: Do you consider Hacker News to be a positive/useful use of your time?

#69

Post by dotancohen »

jillesvangurp wrote: post #19

It keeps me informed but it definitely has a few negative qualities. - I seem to spend too much time on it. Obsessively checking it. Reading the comments. I recognize the behavior from when I was frequenting Slashdot back in the day. It definitely has some addictive qualities and I need to force myself to stop reading it so often. - The debate is a lot less fun than Slashdot used to be. I kind of miss the silliness.…

  > Reading the comments. I recognize the behavior from when I was frequenting Slashdot back in the day.
I'm intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

Re: Ask HN: Do you consider Hacker News to be a positive/useful use of your time?

#70

Post by ianai »

It comes across overly critical. Say something and likely the only response will be in disagreement. Could be a single anecdote. Could be downright misinformation. And now that comment is taken as the main of the conversation.

It is far, far too easy to simply disagree with a comment, effectively add zero actual knowledge, and direct the conversation away from being constructive.

There is a difference between simply having a conversation and being destructive.

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