Fully agree. And more than that, I think you're objectively correct.

Think about the evolution of the term "social media". It evolved from social networks, which themselves evolved from forums.

The "media" in "social media" refers to third-party content that is algorithmically boosted through social signals, with signals from your own network weighting higher, and in the end creating a personalized algorithm of media content.

There is no personalized media on HN. It's the same feed for everyone. There is no network on HN. No friends, follows, private messages.

So there's no social to HN, and no (personalized) media, and no network.

Fully agree. Forums predate social media and are some of the oldest parts of the internet. And it's not quite socializing... it's more like, are you broadcasting and consuming content? Or discussing it?

HN and Reddit aren’t traditional forums because of the way downvotes and upvotes work. I would consider a forum to be defined by the most recent activity bringing the thread to the top of the list, not a popularity contest via upvote and downvote.

I also think HN has become too general purpose to be similar in spirit to most forums. Being seen on HN has major dollar value just like trending on Reddit does.

Also, have you used Reddit recently?

Open up Reddit on the app. No using old.reddit.com, doesn’t count. That’s not the experience most users are using.

Go to the watch section. I think you swipe left or right or something? I forget, I deleted the app.

Bam, it’s TikTok.