It’s not about “the HN crowd”, it’s just that the time has changed so much. Do you remember 2008? Facebook was a swanky way back then to reconnect with your classmates and leave some “Like” things under their wedding photos. Google was seen as a way of organizing the world’s information to make it universally accessible and useful, with their niche ad service being still in limited beta. Twitter was so unknown that it still hasn’t even won a Webby Award.
And 23andMe was already offering a $100 DNA sampling in 2008.
It’s easy to be cynical about this in 2025. Those who didn’t live through the early 2000s, can’t even imagine the amount of optimism surrounding the tech industry at that time. Giving my DNA to a cool new Silicon Valley firm in 2008? Sure, why not, it was like buying a ticket to some utopian future.
Your comment made me think of other companies we view as (mostly) “good” today.
E.g. tons of people take Uber/Lyft with no consideration about how those companies can take your travel history and daily schedule to monetize or sell to 3rd parties.
DoorDash - what if they start selling my order history to insurance companies as a variable to predict obesity/mortality?
HN/Reddit - what if some LLM scrapes all my comments, de-anonymizes me, and sells that info to a data broker?
Visa/Mastercard - what if 100% of my credit card history is sold to data brokers? (Spoiler, it already often is!)
Just trying to illustrate that even in 2025, we pick and choose what to view through rose colored glasses and what to frown upon.
In the example of Uber/Lyft, I willingly give up my home address and even let me know every time I’m out of town! (Trips to airport) yet that seemingly doesn’t cross my mind when requesting a ride.
I don’t disagree with your comment, but IMO what was true in 2000’s is still true today: people overlook risks of things when the benefits are substantial enough. That’s human nature
So you walked into a French restaurant in the 16th century every week and there was an artist sitting outside and the proprietor took notes on every conversation you had and the artist made portraits from everything you were wearing every week and they all sold it down the river.
The shopkeeper knows your face and every baguette you ever purchased three times a week. Every miller within 300 km knows about that time you complained about the stale bread they sold you.
What is the big diff and nobody needs high tech to compromise your privacy
I lived through the early 2000s and it was already pretty easy to see how 23andme could go wrong. Unlike data that could leak from a company like Google or Facebook, your DNA is forever associated with you and can't be changed or obfuscated. IIRC, many on HN made the same point at the time.
Elsewhere in this discussion there are people talking about how "the common man" doesn't understand the risks of privacy loss. Well it really doesn't help that when those risks materialize you also have people claiming "well no one could have seen that coming".
In fairness the "common man", if they are anything, is unable to think more than about a month or two ahead on a good day. So while anyone with an unusual ability to plan long term could, did and does see problems on the horizon the common man certainly couldn't have picked it.
FB had an internal version that predated the FriendFeed one although it wasn’t launched till later. I don’t know what you consider “invented” in the context of silly internet features but that’s the history.
The invention I mean is that when user X likes a post of user Y, the liked post of Y is included into the feeds of users who follow user X. I don't remember this mechanic prior to Friendfeed and then FB. Maybe I'm just unaware of prior art.
I remember 2008. It was the same thing as now. The majority of people just want what they want, useful or shiny, and don't care about the rest. Remember how many signed up for housing loans they couldn't pay back, knew they disn't have the money, but it was cool and everyone else was doing it? Same thing, roughly. Was the case then and will be now.
And 23andMe was already offering a $100 DNA sampling in 2008.
It’s easy to be cynical about this in 2025. Those who didn’t live through the early 2000s, can’t even imagine the amount of optimism surrounding the tech industry at that time. Giving my DNA to a cool new Silicon Valley firm in 2008? Sure, why not, it was like buying a ticket to some utopian future.