I wish there was something like Reddit that could be organized by topic, but had the simplicity of HN's design instead of the monstrocity Reddit has become. My guess is it would still succumb to the Reddit Hive Mind effect without a reasonably benevolent moderation team though. For all the times I've said that HN basically does the same thing, I have to admit that it is much better about keeping it in check.
Reddit has been pushing to be like other social media sites now. They've added profile pictures and avatars, not to mention they're pushing video content like nothing else. They've got livestreaming and try to saturate your front page with as much video as possible. They've also changed the way their app handles video links to be more like TikTok or YouTube.
It used to be a lot like HN - discussions around links to articles. I wish there was a community with the feel of HN with the wide net of Reddit.
It feels like all social media is converging; Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, TikTok, Youtube, all an endless stream of ai-curated short videos that you can swipe through over and over.
I use third party Reddit apps that largely resemble RSS feeds, and pull directly from the API. So you don't see any of the new social media features. You don't even see ads!
The same is true for desktop, with with the Reddit Enhancement Suite browser extension. My Reddit has looked largely the same for nearly 10 years!
> It feels like all social media is converging; Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, TikTok, Youtube, all an endless stream of ai-curated short videos that you can swipe through over and over.
It's likely that AI curation is the future because no humans can shift through the vast amounts of data and content being made. Things that can't keep up without curation or with just human curation have died or will die.
Good AI curation can bring you the exact content you're looking for, can but not will. I've seen it work times and times again, but I've also noticed that you have to be aware of the flaws of the tool to be able to use them or it gets really bad really quick.
You can't let the AI take control, if it derails to content you don't like you must know what it uses as a quality signal and give it a thumbs down, if it is intentionally derailed, you must stop using the platform.
TikTok recently released an update to their algorithm, it ruined my FYP and replaced my content with inane videos made by people nearby - hyperlocal garbage. The feedback mechanisms given no longer work, before that update they did.
I do think that even people being nostalgic here about the "old internet" should try and learn how to turn AI curation for their own advantage instead of just being sad and nostalgic.
Yahoo did this in the 1990s and it was cool for a while, but the net got too big to maintain the directory. There was an open alternative but it got inundated by spam of course.
I exactly had the same thought few weeks back on Twitter. Since I have ditched the whole 'social media bubble' for my mental health, it seems sometimes I wish there was some sort of HN-like aggregator for Tweets from my favorite topics and people.
The Gemini protocol will never gain widespread traction because its designed to appeal to a specific tech-contrarian anti-modernist mindset with restrictions that most people won't find appealing or useful.
And as soon as the mainstream knows about it, and it no longer feels quirky and niche, it will be declared dead and abandoned anyway.
