[NoPicklez]

For me the mainspace for discussing computer related stuff is still Reddit.

/r/pcmasterrace still has 8 million members and /r/buildapc has 6 million. The viewer counts for these subreddits have only increased even in recent months.

HN still has excellent discussions whether its Ask HN or links

Was there a problem that begged asking the question in the first place?

[whoknowsidont]

>Was there a problem that begged asking the question in the first place?

I thought the post stated it as concisely as possible. 3rd party clients are being shutdown on reddit, Twitter is, well... doing something. HN isn't an "ask forum", or really a forum at all. I have my personal opinions about the subreddits you mentioned but I won't presume to imply anything that the OP wasn't meaning to say.

Sometimes people get lost on the internet when things shift and that appears to be what happened here. OP is just searching for some new outlets. It's a question that will certainly come up again as long as the internet continues to change.

You might even find yourself asking it one day.

[code_duck]

Yes, the rationale is briefly described in the exposition to the question. Following recent events such as sudden API price hikes resulting in discontinuation of most 3rd party reddit clients and clumsy communication from the admins, discontent with reddit has been higher than usual recently. It has resulted in reddit alternatives such as Lemmy growing exponentially in the past 1-2 months.

[thefz]

Even the most obscure technical subreddits (such as bikewrench) are now reduced to users posting a photo and asking "how to fix" or "what is this". Reddit is a dumpster fire and barreling fast to its death. Quality of discussion is abysmal.