[spectramax]

If the joke adds intellectual value, I mostly agree. The problem is defining what’s truly funny and what’s not and it is highly dependent on the individual reader.

I’ve personally feel/seen some erosion but it’s hard to quantify and measure.

[Scarblac]

The problem on Reddit is the huge amount of formulaic and reference-based humor. It's too easy and it becomes a race to see who posts the obvious joke first.

On HN jokes do get up voted - if they're original, related to the topic and actually funny.