Interesting, did anybody comment on the lack of eye candy and image and video posts in comments? Because I think those are key elements in keeping HN nice.
I agree with you about the attractions of the text-only format, and several students mentioned that positively as well.
They also liked the lack of advertisements. I had to point out that the launch announcements and job postings that appear on the front page, while discreet, are essentially ads and presumably help pay the bills (including @dang’s well-earned salary).
The students were put off at first, as I expected they would be, by the high level of specialized knowledge that seems to be necessary to understand the posts and discussions. I tried to help by pointing them to discussions on relatively general topics that I thought they might find interesting, such as [1, 2, 3, 4]. I also told them that nobody understands, or is interested in, everything that is discussed on HN.
I turn sixty-five in a couple of weeks, which means I am nearly a half century older than my students. One of the unique strengths of HN is that it is interesting and valuable both for me at the end of my career and for young people who have not yet started theirs.
