HN makes Reddit less interesting | Hacker News Reader

HN makes Reddit less interesting

12 pointsDrBoring11 comments

Over the past month, I've increased my frequency of HN usage.

I've found the links more interesting, and more importantly, the discussions more intelligent.

As a result, my default bored-i-need-stimulation behavior has switched from browsing to Reddit to browsing to HN.

I find this behavior change helpful in two ways:

1. The HN frontpage updates more slowly than Reddit, so I waste less time getting sucked into the link abyss.

2. I don't feel compelled to engage in the Reddit karma game. I've found myself mid-comment deciding that this is a waste of time, and just close the page.

I'm not sure what exactly is my point. But I'm starting to appreciate the value of small neich communities like HN.

View on HN

I find the opposite:

1. The HN frontpage updates more slowly than Reddit

I don't live on the reddit frontpage, I hangout out at /r/learnpython/new and a few similar subreddits. There's much less chance there of disappearing into a twisty maze of little passages, all alike. That's what youtube is for. I only scan the 30 entries on the HN "new" page a few times a day.

2. I don't feel compelled to engage in the Reddit karma game.

Never understood the karma points thing. Anyway, on /r/learnpython (and similar) it's all about helping others. A single karma upvote is nice but relatively rare. It's better to get a simple "thanks" comment.

If anything drives me away from reddit it'll be the constant effort by reddit management to "appize" the platform, making it more annoying for people to actually use.

I suppose my original sentiment was that HN gives me the I'm-bored-and-need-a-distraction-fix better than reddit. It's like reddit and HN are medicines that treat the same ailment, and HN is cherry flavoured while reddit tastes of old-cheese.

I wonder if this reddit usage strategy would work:

1. unsubscribe from everything 2. create an html file with links to just the subs that interest me 3. either 3.a. Browse using old.reddit.com (while it still lasts) 3.b. Write a userscript that removes all the annoying UI elements like the upvote bar, and suggestions.

I don't completely hate reddit. It can't be beat for breadth of topics and user population. It's the unhealthy parts of reddit that I don't like. The "appizeness" as you put it, where RedditCorp is prioritizing engagement at the cost of utility and community.

I'm also turned off by the the anti-social behavior of the users, which is typical of today's social platforms. I'm too young to have taken part in newsgroups, I wonder if they suffered from the same behavior problem.

Sorry for the late reply.

> unsubscribe from everything

I've never subscribed to any thing in reddit, so I don't know what effect it would have.

> create an html file with links to just the subs that interest me

I just create bookmarks to the subs I read. No need to create a file.

> Browse using old.reddit.com (while it still lasts)

That's what I do. As far as I'm concerned, if old.reddit.com goes away so does reddit. Or maybe I'll write code to get just the data I want displayed the way I want. Depends on how severe my withdrawal symptoms get!

Interesting, both are nearly orthogonal for me.

Some interesting subreddits I like are BestOfRedditorUpdates, financialindependence, fatFIRE, programming, solotravel, pcgaming etc. Most of those are not covered by HN, with the exception of programming.

Depends on what page you're in and what your interests are.

I like foraging and growing mushrooms. There are a lot of interesting posts and material about them on Reddit. Somewhat similar for stocks and investing. Not much on those here.

Yeah, if you're not into tech-related stuff 24/7, Reddit is a good thing to browse on the side.

Any subs your can recommend on the mushroom topic? I'm just getting started in growing.

Mushroomgrowers is probably the best one.

HN & Reddit are my #1 & #2 go-to sites each morning.

I concur with the OP, with the additional note of accepting "being sucked in" to Reddit's dog-themed pages. I'm a sucker for an adoption story.

Agree, but also think lobste.rs makes hn less interesting.

I think this is the 2nd time I've seen a recommendation for to lobste.rs

I just took a quick look. Their user invitation tree (https://lobste.rs/u) is interesting. I had a similar idea for the community app I've been dreaming up.

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