I Quit Hacker News

I agree with Matt on about 75% of these points. That's why I have severely started limiting my time here.

Probably the worst part is the time-sink and the predictable nature of the comments. Most of the time I can tell from the title what all the comments are going to be like. Anybody that tries to swim against the stream, if only a little bit, can be mercilessly punished. In fact, it's somewhat of a game to see how even-handed I can make a thread -- human hacking. Which makes it even more of a time sink.

HN has changed for me from being a site where I can hang out with fellow hackers to being a site where people I like hang out and spend too much of their time. I'm trying very hard not to make the same mistake. Hopefully I won't be joining Matt. (Lunch is over. Back to work)

I think that to some extent the karma average score has encouraged too much homogeneity in the comments. I don't feel like I can disagree for fear of getting downvoted or not upvoted, which would lower my karma average and make my votes in turn worthless.

The time sink factor is also obvious. However, I tend to swing back and forth between very productive and not very productive. When I am in a coding mood I rarely browse HN or comment and instead I hack like crazy for hours every day. When I am burned out or feeling like I need a break from chasing some bug I'll stop by here and read.

So the time sink aspect is doable for me at least. No one can work constantly, without any breaks, and maintain their sanity.