HN shows 30 stories on front page. If they reduce it to 5 your usage may decrease so are they following a dark pattern? or if they increase the no. to 50 will it become a dark pattern?
How about 5000? This then becomes a useless discussion of where, between 0 and infinity I will deem it a dark pattern or not. I don't know, but I do consider infinity with the purpose of keeping people engaged a 'dark pattern', as do others of you look at the article I shared. Maybe you don't and that's fine.