[HN Gopher] The reason people don't read the article: They just ...
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       The reason people don't read the article: They just want to
       socialize
        
       Many people here like to think HN is some bastion of intellectual
       conversation, and it is to some extent, but it's still a social
       network. Or maybe just a social space, because there isn't much of
       a network since profiles aren't used much.  Post titles are a
       jumping off point to socializing, and generally reading the article
       isn't necessary to converse with strangers on the internet. I won't
       write more, you probably won't read it :)
        
       Author : yourabstraction
       Score  : 27 points
       Date   : 2021-05-29 19:33 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
       | enchiridion wrote:
       | Will have to read the rest of your post later, but you're wrong.
       | Thinking you're right it's a common misconception.
       | 
       | Anyway, how is everyone?
        
         | cpach wrote:
         | (^_^)
        
         | smlss_sftwr wrote:
         | Good thing I don't think I'm right then, I know I'm right ;)
        
       | wiml wrote:
       | It's definitely partly that, but it's also that the reading
       | experience for many articles is atrocious. If I click the
       | comments link, I get to the comments immediately -- perhaps
       | incomplete, uninformed, argumentative, but they're right there.
       | If I click on the article, I have to wait for a bunch of branding
       | banners, ads, sidebars, and analytics scripts to load. Then I
       | have to wade through some popups for cookies and the site's app
       | and wouldn't I like to subscribe? Then I have to read a couple
       | pages of the author reminiscing about a bagel they once ate
       | before they actually start talking about the topic at hand --
       | along with some more slow-loading fade-in images and scrollbar
       | hijacking. It's exhausting! I don't have time for all that.
        
       | andrei_says_ wrote:
       | Also, TFA is often 90% fluff and reading a few insightful
       | commends is much more efficient.
        
       | dalmo3 wrote:
       | The comments often tell you if the article is worth reading or
       | not. I don't mean indirectly - if the comments barely mention or
       | quote the article then I probably won't bother opening it.
        
       | theonemind wrote:
       | I'm guilty skipping straight to comments and even commenting when
       | I haven't read the article, however, it doesn't feel at all like
       | an urge to socialize.
       | 
       | Articles usually feel like they need some minimum length or to
       | fill a word count. Comments tend more toward someone actually
       | wanting to say something and working uphill a little bit against
       | a natural tendency to not type.
       | 
       | It just annoys me that people can't separate weight of points and
       | value of content from some kind of mental tendency to use word
       | count as a proxy, the same way they think heavier stuff is more
       | valuable.
       | 
       | Compact stuff is just more valuable to my cognitive style now. I
       | used to like things lengthier.
        
       | zzo38computer wrote:
       | Sometimes you might want to reply to another comment, rather than
       | to the article itself.
       | 
       | Another possibility is maybe the article won't load but you might
       | have something to write anyways, in which case reading the
       | article first won't do.
       | 
       | I know, because both of these thing sometimes apply to me, and
       | probably others too.
        
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       (page generated 2021-05-29 23:01 UTC)