We’ve started instituting a “no phones” policy when the kids have sleepovers to try to combat this at least a little bit, and have constant conversations about why things like Instagram are toxic and we should just try to spend our time enjoying life.

Obviously I’m also posting here while I wait in the car waiting to pick someone up, but I actively make an effort to unplug on a regular basis.

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criticalfault 15 hours ago | parent [-]

isn't HN more like professional news/discussion place?

is it considered social media?

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wccrawford 14 hours ago | parent | next [-]

This is absolutely social media. And like all addicts, people here loudly proclaim that it's less toxic.

Whether or not is it indeed less toxic is up for debate.

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direwolf20 14 hours ago | parent [-]

It's highly censored.

	▲	potato3732842 13 hours ago \| parent [-]
		And it has the little Righthink number in the corner that goes up when you make Righthink.

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BbzzbB 14 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

What:s the difference between reddit and HN beyond the form?

It seems to be obviously social media to me

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dooglius 3 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

The lack of subreddits is a big difference because it inhibits users coagulating into subgroups. Reddit also allows people to be banned from subreddits by subreddit owners/mods which leads to groupthink more.

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direwolf20 14 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The content is also different. Reddit uses AI agents to populate feeds to generate user engagement.

	▲	cons0le 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The main difference is no personalized algorithm ranking content to increase engagement. The algorithm has consumed reels/shorts/tiktok/insta. Being extremely inflammatory is rewarded there.

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mrgoldenbrown 13 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

HN is definitely social media, even if it isn't explicitly labeled as such. Ostensibly Instagram is just a photo sharing site, but we all know it is social media.

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KPGv2 14 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> isn't HN more like professional news/discussion place?

I see enough racist and misogynist comments here to know that isn't true. And that's not even considering the low-knowledge comments offered up as expertise.

I long for the days of a Slashdot where you could filter out anyone with a UID greater than 200K or so, and it'd be nothing but 20yr experts in IT dropping rugged after rugged of tremendously insightful analysis. (Granted there was also plenty of GNAA frist psot stuff.)

	▲	potato3732842 13 hours ago \| parent [-]
		>I long for the days of a Slashdot where you could filter out anyone with a UID greater than 200K or so, and it'd be nothing but 20yr experts in IT dropping rugged after rugged of tremendously insightful analysis. If you had a similar filter here it'd likely have the the opposite effect.