As someone who just recently migrated from reddit (almost entirely), I've noticed that one of the most defining differences on HN is the non-sensationalist headlines. Not only does this ward off the "hive-mind" mentality, but simultaneously imbues the site with a simplicity and maturity which certainly adds balance to the site's collective outlook.

Just recently, I showed this site to my younger brother and he called it "boring and pretentious." I feel like that's exactly the way it should remain, if we intend to keep the site paradigm from changing too dramatically.