[ryanwaggoner]

You’re just describing all advertising-supported media, from TV to magazines to large swaths of the web.

Do you honestly think HN is in a different category? Why do you think this site exists? And how many billions of collective hours of procrastination have been spent here?

Granted, this site is relatively well-moderated and high signal to noise, especially for its size, but so are many subreddits. The top subreddits are a dumpster fire but there are thousands of smaller niche subs that are delightful.