Did you even read the article?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13714732

by kenning • 9 years ago

11 10 9 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I've noticed that I have a tendency to not actually read articles posted here or on Reddit and instead skip straight to the comments. Does anyone else do this?

Comment sections are usually a mixed bag, but I always prefer a variety of opinions on a topic. Then if people are positive about the article I will go back and read it.

davelnewton• 9 years ago

Then if people are positive about the article I will go back and read it.

This strikes me as over-editing your intake feed and potentially missing out on information that you might be positive about, or take action on, or...

Broken_Hippo• 9 years ago

Gotta start trimming the hedge somewhere. It isn't so much missing information as needing to pick and choose due to time constraints.

Sometimes, it is more that the article is fairly technical and I can learn more about the subject from the comments. Sometimes enough to make more sense out of the article itself.

Positive doesn't really mean happy: Positive in terms on content or good writing means the article is worth the time to read. "Long read but good" might mean to come back later. Surprisingly controversial topic? Yeah, probably should read, it'll be a positive thing to have in my brain.

And so on and so forth.

tjr• 9 years ago

I very often read only the comments on HN, as they are routinely more interesting to me than the articles.

In fact, it might be worth trying out not even needing articles. Just submit a topic.

Discuss HN: Numerical analysis

Discuss HN: Rust vs C for embedded development

Discuss HN: Health benefits (or myths?) of eating kale

BillBohan• 9 years ago

I skip past articles and their comments if I know that I will not understand them, e.g. details of a language which I do not know.

Sometimes I will look at articles which are about things I have never heard of just to find out what that is. Sometimes, the article does not sufficiently explain what it is, like when they only tell about the improvements over the previous release. In these cases I try to find what it is from comments.

If an article is tl;dr sometimes I look to the comments to see whether I can get the gist in brief.

For articles within my realm of interest I will usually read the entire article, then the comments.

I usually avoid making comments on articles I have not read unless the comments provide sufficient explanation for me to add my input.

I truly appreciate the intelligence and courtesy of the comments on HN and try to bring the same to it.

AnimalMuppet• 9 years ago

Seconded. Too often the headline doesn't tell me what the topic is, let alone whether it's worth reading. The comments will, though, in a hurry.

codegeek• 9 years ago

I always skim through comments first to decide if the article is even worth reading. YMMV.

I browse HN daily and if I see a post that I "think" I can contribute to or is of interest, I open the comments thread first. Then if it seems fit, I read the article unless of course it is an Ask HN which I already read. I upvote it as well.

In some cases, I know I cannot contribute to the post in a meaningful way but I want to see the discussion as it is interesting. In that case, I just upvote and shut up.

enigmalord• 9 years ago

I do exactly that :)

miguelrochefort• 9 years ago

I open ~10% of articles I comment on.

kenning• 9 years ago

Hell yeah dude cowboy commenting

dmarlow• 9 years ago

Only if it's interesting enough to read. Usually the comments are more interesting.

If someone summarizes or does a TL;DR, I'm even less likely to read it.

Did you even read the article?

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