I use an RSS feed. No idea how posts are filtered or sorted because sometimes I see flagged posts (which I like to see). I have an account and usually only comment with replies, and rarely participate in conversations past a single reply (sorry) because I find otherwise I get too invested in them.

I spend more time reading the comments than the articles, half because I can learn more from the comments and half because I have a morbid love/hate fascination with the typical “facts over feelings” HN poster.