
Ask HN: Does HN cause depression? - thinbeige
I blocked HN on all my devices via the hosts file for two weeks now. Reason: I am a heavy procrastinator and blocking HN helps a lot.<p>Just now, I thought it is weekend and I can check HN, and the first post I saw was the article &#x27;When Factory Jobs Vanish, Men Become Less Desirable Partners&#x27; on number one or two.<p>This is so HN, news which makes me sad (and its comments even more). I don&#x27;t want to claim that HN is a negative place but somehow I have the feeling that I felt the last two weeks better without HN. Many upvoted posts oder comments have a negative connotation which isn&#x27;t always obvious at first glance.<p>I read in a book (I think from Robert Greene) that negativity is infectious and if HN has more negative thoughts than the average social news site then this could make sense.<p>Just wondering if you experienced this as well.
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theprotocol
Controversial post incoming.

For me it isn't the negative content that I find depressing; it's the total
lack of levity in the comments around here which causes anxiety.

You practically can't comment on anything unless you're a complete expert,
lest an expert get offended by your less-than-perfect understanding of
something and engage in a "gotcha" eye-rolling grouchy-faced passive
aggressive attack in response, instead of just explaining politely why you're
wrong. Most people are happy to be corrected by experts, and I'd rather they
weren't afraid to post their ideas.

We people take ourselves too seriously, methinks. In my circles, I see a lot
of impotent nerd-rage boiling underneath the surface (of which I too have been
guilty) and it comes out whenever someone is even just a centimeter off when
trying to talk about something complicated.

edit: This popular comic describes it well:
[https://xkcd.com/386/](https://xkcd.com/386/) There's a bit too much of this.

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mindcrime
I see something similar, although I may look at it slightly differently. I
don't necessarily case so much about "levity" per-se, but what I would like to
see is for people to:

1\. quit acting as though every discussion here was a formal debate

2\. assume good faith on the behalf of others

3\. try avoid being dicks to each other

4\. shy away from needless pedantry

Note that (3) does not imply never offering criticism, or never saying
anything negative. It just means doing so in a constructive and respectful
way.

OTOH, the lack of Reddit/Slashdot style memes and jokes and what-not is a Good
Thing about HN, IMO.

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Ftuuky
I'm 27 years old and currently unemployed. I don't have a background in CS but
in sociology and I'm currently learning Python and statistics since in my city
there are so many data analytics/science jobs and I'd like to work in
something other than a call center. Reading HN really makes me depressed
because of all these experts and genius, younger than me, with a big salary
and with a vast resumé filled with interesting projects. So it's not so much
negativity but jealously. I feel like a big loser and you guys really don't
help. :)

~~~
bananicorn
I can second this sentiment somewhat.

I've got a different background than you, but I still feel the same a lot of
the time, since the "less successful" people don't speak up that much and with
all the side projects people seem to have, a bit of a workaholic image of the
community is created.

I've had times myself where I had to remind myself to live between regular
work and (even just small) side projects.

Most of the bad things about HN, I'm doing to myself.

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venkasub
'You see what you choose to See'.

With experience, I have seen that people get the knack for reading what they
are interested in and know to understand & appreciate the content on the Web.
One need not be easily influenced the thoughts being shared, but form their
own opinions after careful examination of the facts.

Skimming content is a desirable skillset to have, especially in the era of
information overload. HN is a sinkhole and one can spend hours on it, or
selectively chose the topics/comments(to know whats-where) and move on.

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hehheh
A little. So many of the people commenting seem very competent and are doing
neat things, stuff that's way beyond my abilities. I spend more time than I'd
like to admit just trying to get my Android UIs to look at best not-shitty.
I've been in tech (software and server admin) for decades.

I understand imposter syndrome but that's not what this is. This is straight
up: I can't even imagine how to properly do these things.

I'm seriously planning on getting out of tech entirely because I don't think I
could successfully navigate the tech interview process. I only got this job
because I know a guy.

This is not perfectly related to what you're describing, where the articles
themselves are downers, but I just had to get it off my chest.

~~~
spicytunacone
>This is straight up: I can't even imagine how to properly do these things.

Isn't learning how the exercise?

>I'm seriously planning on getting out of tech entirely because I don't think
I could successfully navigate the tech interview process. I only got this job
because I know a guy.

I'm coming from the other end of the spectrum so I don't know what particular
issues you're having, but there's always a post on HN frontpage every other
week or so about the poor state of hiring/tech interviews across the board. On
the other hand, I'd say you should play to your strengths. You earned your
network over your long career.

Cheers.

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hownottowrite
I don't think HN causes depression as much a it exacerbates an existing
condition. I say this because I've felt the same way, but when I examine those
feelings I find it's more about me than it is HN. In this way HN is really no
different than any other community (online or off).

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CM30
I don't think it's Hacker News specifically. More social media in general.
That's because social media tends to be filled with a lot of posts on:

1\. How 'terrible' everything supposedly is and every negative look at things
in the world. Because hey, negativity draws in the clicks and attention.

2\. How well people other than you seem to be doing at the moment. Cause
people struggling in life tend to share less on the internet.

These two factors mean that spending too long on any social media site can
leave you feeling terrible.

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soneca
I dont have the same impression at all. I read these news as interesting
topics with rational points of view.

This article you mention, for example, I dont find it negative. Even less so
if you actually read the article and do not fall for its headline. Editors
have a strong incentive to write headlines that are either very negative or
very positive. No middle ground. This is all over internet. Every news article
has a headline that suggests a sad history or a happy story, never just a
story.

Even you. Look at your headline "HN causes de pressionar" vs your post "HN has
a lot of negativity". Your headline is much more agressive, click baity and
extreme than the rest of your writing.

One more point. There is a cultural incentive among HN crowd to write comments
with critical thinking and take nothing at face value. This is a good trait I
believe, but leads to several comments that may look negative. I don't read
them this way. I read them as someone trying to have a different point of
view, with which I can agree or not.

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mabynogy
HN is far more positive than Reddit (and most forums I use).

I think it's because of the mods.

I don't read harsh comments and use a lot the "hide" link.

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manibatra
The media or even social media always reports exceptional stories which can be
both positive and negative. If you measure your life, which most of us
subconsciously do against these stories ( positive or negative ) you won't
ever feel great.

I would suggest reading the book "The Subtle Art Of Not Giving a F*ck". A
short easy read which gives actionable advice about dealing with negativity
and procrastination which often are very correlated.

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tedmiston
I think there's positivity and negativity in any discussion on any news site.
Personally I just downvote extremely negative comments that don't enhance the
discussion, and move on to the positive ones.

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jtcond13
People who see something wrong with your question/project/link tend to be more
motivated to comment, which I think explains some of what you're talking
about.

The other way may be the way you _use_ HN. There's a connection between
distraction and anxiety/depression; many of us, of course, use HN as a
distraction from something else we ought to be doing.

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tmaly
For me, I prefer to niche down to avoid the posts on politics and post AI
future. I look at the Ask section or the Show section. I also like to check
the new section as I frequently find very interesting posts that never make it
to the front page.

I also frequent related sites like indiehackers.com where there is a different
vibe and focus.

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formula_ninguna
That's right -- the great deal of news of any kind and especially comments
make you anxious.

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nicolasd
I wouldn't say it causes depression, but I see your point. There is a lot of
negativity in the comments and sometimes people are harsh because they (think)
their opinion is the only right one.

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psyc
Well, HN _is_ a negative place. Try searching Twitter for "orange website" for
a good laugh.

