Ask HN: How do you read 1K+ comments in a HN thread

Just don’t.

No thread with 1000 comments will have anything original or anything of value. Inevitably it is just partisans throwing the same talking points at each other back-and-forth until one party gets tired and the other declares victory.

It may be 1000 comments, but including answers to comments, and answers to answers to comments and so on. Since it’s possible to fold "sub threads" of answers in which I am not interested, it becomes pretty manageable.

I start at the top comment and read replies until it gets boring.

From there, I read top-level comments and collapse the ones that look dull.

But I never get very far into it.

I also religious check my replies and try to reply when people have something interesting to say.

Quick scan for anything of near term significance, favorite the thread, and then I’ll revisit the thread once the window times out for further replies and comment edits.

Usually, if topic is interesting, I will save it and read all of it on weekend. Otherwise, I will try to read around 2-3 first comments with its subs.

AI

I. DO. NOT. I do, however, wonder what made you think i do.