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Avoiding outrage fatigue while staying informed

(www.scientificamerican.com)
757 points headalgorithm | 5 comments | 05 Feb 25 14:55 UTC | HN request time: 1.348s | source
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joshdavham ◴[05 Feb 25 15:50 UTC] No.42950233[source]▶
One thing to consider for those of us who are more sensitive to online outrage is to just quit social media all together. I’m technically gen z and I’ve been off of social media (aside from HN, WhatsApp and discord) for years and you wouldn’t believe how great it’s been for my overall state of mind.

Reddit, instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Threads, etc are all the equivalent of digital junk food and I’d argue that we’re all a lot more negatively affected by it than we think. There’s a reason ‘brain rot’ was word of the year.

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sporkydistance ◴[05 Feb 25 17:43 UTC] No.42952227[source]▶
Why do you exclude HN from your list? It is literally social media, but with the dial turned down a little. Yet, you don't have to dig to deeply to see flamewars, outrage, and trolling. I mean, look at many of the garbage comments in this very thread that are on par with /.,xchan.
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vaylian ◴[05 Feb 25 20:02 UTC] No.42954294[source]▶
If HN is social media, then old online forums from the time before "social media" are also social media.
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Klonoar ◴[05 Feb 25 20:30 UTC] No.42954663[source]▶
Well, yes.

That’s not really a gotcha statement.

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switchbak ◴[05 Feb 25 20:49 UTC] No.42954901[source]▶
Sure, but it’s also not a useful distinction.

There’s a clear difference of kind between modern social media and the forums/usenet of old.

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1. sporkydistance ◴[05 Feb 25 22:39 UTC] No.42956385[source]▶
I really would like to know what exactly you consider a "clear difference" between how Usenet and differ conceptually (e.g., ignoring the GUI, the # of users, and mechanics, [e.g., usenet updates diffused around the globe because we didn't have cloud servers]).

Please back that statement up with some facts.

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2. musicale ◴[06 Feb 25 05:32 UTC] No.42959405[source]▶
1. Centralized control by for-profit corporations (and their investors) chasing perpetual growth

2. Algorithms driving ever-increasing "engagement" to deliver advertising

3. Surveillance capitalism

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3. vaylian ◴[06 Feb 25 07:24 UTC] No.42959967[source]▶
"social" implies that relationships between users are a core part of the platform. I can't follow another user or mark them as a "friend" on HN.

HN users put a lot less emphasis on who says something and we focus more on what they say. There are exceptions of course, because we have our own share of renowned experts posting here. But for the most part, people don't take note of what username writes a post.

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4. sporkydistance ◴[10 Feb 25 05:30 UTC] No.42997228[source]▶
Ah, thanks. That's a good answer. I was coming at it from the discussion angle only. However, both Usenet and HN don't allow you to friend people, like other social media. I see I accidentally dropped the term HN, which makes my question unclear. I still don't see spiritual difference between HN and Usenet when framed around your response, though.
5. sporkydistance ◴[10 Feb 25 05:31 UTC] No.42997235[source]▶
Sorry, I was refering to Hacker News, not all social media. My question was unclear.

1. HN is centralized, but not for-profit.

2. HN does not drive engagement, AFAIK

3. HN is not surveillance capitalism.

You haven't demonstrated how Usenet differs from HN, but since my question had a typo and omitted HN, I can see how that is confusing.