[jermaustin1]

I don't have the data to quantify it, but M-F, 6a-4p, maybe once an hour or so just to check the headlines. If I have comments, I might check my threads to see if I need to respond. On the Weekends, though, I might check it in the morning and again before bed just to see if anything interesting happened.

But it isn't like YT (which is running in the background nearly 24/7) or Reddit, that I habbitually check. Those feel way more addictive. Same with Instagram, but I don't really care for short form content, so it doesn't capture me the same way as news and long form videos.

[stickfigure]

Well just to offer another data point, I check HN far more often than any of the others. Many times a day. I consider it far more addictive - there's usually something interesting, and scanning is low investment. Youtube requires headphones and willingness to block out the world for 15+ minutes at a time. Facebook just doesn't have much interesting in it anymore since friends stopped posting.

I feel like all of this is fine? HN is winning the attention game for a niche audience of people vaguely like me. TikTok is winning the attention game for other kinds of people. I don't understand why we have to agonize over this. What would you rather people spend their attention on? What would you rather spend your own attention on? Why don't you?

[jermaustin1]

I agree that HN is addicting. When I have a blog post that I find on the front page, I get drawn in for multiple days straight, but I feel like it is a better/safer addiction. Like vaping vs cigarettes. Weed vs alcohol. Opium vs fentanyl.

TikTok is low-fat, high-sugar ultra processed "diet" food. HN is a fatty cut of steak with mushrooms and onions. Both are terrible for you everyday, multiple times a day, but one of them is arguably worse. But either one of them in moderation, is actually good for your soul lol.