[tempworkac]

why? you don't have to use them. should HN be banned?

[lm28469]

This is the level 0 of reasoning about these topics...

We live in organised societies, nobody is forcing you to do crack but people doing crack will definitely lower the experience of everyone they interact with (and more given the burden on shared goods like healthcare, infrastructures, &c.), that's why we collectively decided that crack shouldn't be sold to 13 years old kids.

Now of course this is very flawed and we'll always have things slipping through the cracks (alcohol, tobacco, junk food, &c.), but unless you want to live in a mad max type of world you have to accept some level of regulation, and that level of regulation, in a working society, should be determined through politics

If tiktok is crack, HN is honey. One becomes problematic much quicker than the other, when you see a kid spending 5 hours a day on HN hit me up

[refurb]

This is not an actual argument because you can make it about anything.

Like to ski? Your injuries have a societal cost.

Like to cook? Your inefficient use of energy costs society.

If you can use an argument for anything it’s not a very convincing argument.

[voidfunc]

Won't someone think of the Children!!!?

Social media is just the demon of the day. In the 80s it was that damn rock music ruining our kids and in the 90s it was violent video games and rap.

Every generation has their "this thing is corrupting the youth" moment.

[trosi]

Teens don't get addicted to Hacker News

[rwyinuse]

Almost any form of media can be addicting. Kids these days might watch TikTok, but my worst addiction since young age has been reading online news.

Once I got diagnosed with ADHD and tried stimulant medicine, I noticed that the time I spend reading news, social media and playing games dropped dramatically. So, effectively all these activities have been nothing more than drugs for my dysfunctional brain. When my brain isn't deficient in dopamine, I seem to automatically spend most of my time on something more useful. Probably wouldn't be writing this if my meds weren't wearing off at this time of day.

[ipsum2]

Speak for yourself. I've been using hacker news since high school, 10+ years ago and haven't been able to stop.

[Kiro]

HN is the most addictive social media I've ever used.

[1718627440]

Not a teen since recently, but got to know it earlier, so ... untrue.

[scarecrowbob]

It has a built in timer to prevent folks from using it too often.

[whimsicalism]

speak for yourself

[zzzeek]

hacker news has a lot of ideological community problems but HN is not "massively centralized", it's just a narrow window into the US tech scene with a relatively small community of people.

I think there's a great argument that says the first amendment is not a suicide pact. The social media environment right now is having an unprecedented destructive effect on US democracy. I think TikTok is right there as a key player in spreading weapons-grade, state-sponsored mush to younger people.

[refurb]

I recall similar arguments about the printing press.

“But the masses will be able to access the scripture without guidance! Society will crumble!”

[whimsicalism]

every generation thinks they’re the first to argue that there are negative effects of free expression.

[suraci]

TBO, TikTok and Twitter are far more diverse than HN, which is merely an echo chamber, only slightly better than a subreddit.

Although I like HN more than TikTok, it's so funny

[tempworkac]

but HN is centralized, so you agree if HN exceeds some arbitrary amount of users it should be banned? how ridiculous. tiktok is not any better or worse than facebook, youtube, or the mainstream media.