This is how I've been boycotting Reddit myself; I'll click native google hits, but I won't visit the homepage/any subreddits directly. HN's filled that need somewhat.
I suppose my original sentiment was that HN gives me the I'm-bored-and-need-a-distraction-fix better than reddit. It's like reddit and HN are medicines that treat the same ailment, and HN is cherry flavoured while reddit tastes of old-cheese.
I wonder if this reddit usage strategy would work:
1. unsubscribe from everything
2. create an html file with links to just the subs that interest me
3. either
3.a. Browse using old.reddit.com (while it still lasts)
3.b. Write a userscript that removes all the annoying UI elements like the upvote bar, and suggestions.
I don't completely hate reddit. It can't be beat for breadth of topics and user population. It's the unhealthy parts of reddit that I don't like. The "appizeness" as you put it, where RedditCorp is prioritizing engagement at the cost of utility and community.
I'm also turned off by the the anti-social behavior of the users, which is typical of today's social platforms. I'm too young to have taken part in newsgroups, I wonder if they suffered from the same behavior problem.
HN is fairly anti-reddit because a lot of the people on here were early reddit adopters who left when it ceased to be programming and tech-centric, and when the site got big enough that the quality of the average comment dropped. That said, there are some great subreddits on there, you just have to cut out most of the main ones. I dropped r/pics, r/atheism, r/worldnews, r/gaming, and r/reddit.com. I added r/humor, r/netsec, r/python, r/java, r/math, r/depthub, r/truereddit, and a few others. It's a much improved experience, now.
I'll stop using both reddit. HN is much better anyway. I'll be waiting for the new wave of migration, as it was the case from digg to reddit initially.
Yeah I used to be a huge Redditor trying to constantly keep up with the memes and funny content of the day. After quitting it made me realize how much a slave I was to the platform and how much I needed my hit of random funny crap.
I used HN as a replacement for the industry news and to remove all the other extra junk. Which seems to be working since I only visit about once a day for 15-20 minutes and don't feel a compulsive need to check it constantly for fear of missing something since there's a lack of memes and in-jokes.
In my opinion there isn't anything about Reddit that is like HN. It's why I stopped reading Reddit and came here. Too many haters and trolls on Reddit.
I prefer HN to reddit overall. But what I like about reddit is that you can select the subreddit(s) of your choice and get rid of all that other extraneous stuff. That doesn't appear to be available in HN.
Having said that, I use my browser bookmarks to select those subreddits, rather than actually subscribing to them.
I've actually completely stopped using Reddit since migrating to HN. The content is better, the comments are far better, and the overall user experience is massively superior.
HN is very good for one focused thing. Reddit used to be good for everythng but more and more it's bad for everything but soulless corporate-friendliness.
I left reddit as soon as they fractured it into subreddits. The cool thing about HN is that it simultaneously has a diversity of subjects and a community.
Same. I haven’t deleted my account but I haven’t browsed the site in over a month. I’m far more productive now.
I had started off by trying to unsubscribe from the subreddits that were mainly image based. This didn’t really make much difference as my sub list was already too saturated, and I would scroll further to find the quick attention satiation. Eventually I realized it wasn’t worth the trouble.
HN is different though, there’s far less clickbait and no thumbnails. I regularly read articles that I feel teach me about important or very interesting topics. It’s pretty rare that I would read an article in full from Reddit. HN comments are often filled with valuable insights that I think will benefit me in the future, and jokes are fairly uncommon. I’ve been more and more frustrated with the low effort Reddit jokes over time.
Sure, the concept is the same between the two sites, but I think my frame of mind is very different when I browse either site. I don’t see myself needing to cut HN out as I did Reddit because it doesn’t have the same effect. HN is meat and veggies and Reddit is candy. Or a dopamine drip.
Is there a good alternative to Reddit? I've been a pretty heavy user for almost a decade but they have been disappointing these past couple of years. I hate how their "principles" aren't consistent. They ban certain subreddit for certain violation while keeping others that fit the same exact category. They never provide an answer to the commuity either. Where do I go to now?! HN is my only safe haven left...
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