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Comment by jader201 | Hacker News Reader

When I read the parent comment, I thought “Am I on Reddit?”.

HN used to bury Reddit-like comments a while back, but it seems the Reddit influence is becoming more and more accepted on HN these days, as I’m starting to see them more at the top vs. the bottom of threads.

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I agree. I was not sure if it was just me making this up, but I have been browsing hacker news for 2 years now, and yet I do noticed some kind of regime shift where reddit-like comments are more prominent. I dont like this development, as HN used to be a safe-space from the reddit hivemind, I wish HN moderation would more heavily moderate them.

Edit: Thanks for the upvotes kind stranger!

Serious question. Are there any alternatives to HN? Been reading HN on and off since 2010 and the decline to this is painfully obvious. Used to learn a lot from reading on here but now only check or post out of habit and lack of a high quality alternative.

HN guidelines quote:

"Please don't post comments saying that HN is turning into Reddit. It's a semi-noob illusion, as old as the hills."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Whether it actually is, or is not, is irrelevant.

But Jader's account is over ten years old, as is mine, so I don't think you can credibly accuse them of being a noob. I happen to believe that HN has gotten substantially worse, and more Reddit-like over the 15 years I've been using it. That said, this change is likely because more people (from a broader spectrum of backgrounds) are using it, and the site's total utility has probably increased.

I didn't say it. The site rules do.

They're guidelines, and they say it's an illusion. The examples linked are to accounts only a few months old, from 14 years ago. At this point, some of us have been around long enough to understand what's going on.

The total utility has increased for who? Not for me. Half the time when I want to have a more nuanced discussion or talk about primary sources it just doesn't happen.

It's a great way to get up to the 500+ threshold as a full account here on HN.

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