Personally I like the fact that some days I find very little of interest. It keeps me focused. Sometimes there can be too much content in our daily lives.
I agree! I’ve often told my friends that the somewhat ‘boring’ nature of HackerNews is a feature, not a bug.
Well, then just don't look at it and focus on other things; that's what I do; but when I then come back later it's practically impossible to keep up and scan the whole stuff just to find the very few interesting posts; it would be much more efficient (with a positive effect on the ability to concentrate on the essential things) to just scan a pre-selected focus area.
I love it the way it is. If I miss out on an interesting story, so be it. But having all the other stories in between helps me looking left or right. I might not be knee deep into genomics, but that one article could just be interesting. I prefer that over tailored content. That’s what I use reddit is for.
You don't need to sub-divide areas of endeavor. You could have all research, vs all practice, and maybe a place to stuff things that will cause political engagement and heated discussion? I dunno, /. did that and the proliferation of flame-bait stories still killed the site for me.
Sometimes I want a 5 minute distraction without my FOMO (fear of missing out) kicking in on an article I might have missed.
Anyways, I’m not saying your request is unreasonable. Just offering a counter perspective.