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Social media criticism and design

Social-network design, algorithms, advertising incentives, addiction, and alternatives.

5,151 stories · 61 in 30 days · Updated Sep 28, 2026

The pace of conversation

Posts per month

2020-01: 76 posts2020-02: 79 posts2020-03: 60 posts2020-04: 47 posts2020-05: 58 posts2020-06: 68 posts2020-07: 63 posts2020-08: 84 posts2020-09: 105 posts2020-10: 86 posts2020-11: 73 posts2020-12: 72 posts2021-01: 109 posts2021-02: 61 posts2021-03: 69 posts2021-04: 47 posts2021-05: 71 posts2021-06: 50 posts2021-07: 56 posts2021-08: 74 posts2021-09: 50 posts2021-10: 78 posts2021-11: 71 posts2021-12: 55 posts2022-01: 55 posts2022-02: 61 posts2022-03: 49 posts2022-04: 47 posts2022-05: 68 posts2022-06: 50 posts2022-07: 60 posts2022-08: 72 posts2022-09: 66 posts2022-10: 57 posts2022-11: 90 posts2022-12: 67 posts2023-01: 74 posts2023-02: 48 posts2023-03: 73 posts2023-04: 68 posts2023-05: 67 posts2023-06: 68 posts2023-07: 75 posts2023-08: 56 posts2023-09: 58 posts2023-10: 84 posts2023-11: 54 posts2023-12: 70 posts2024-01: 77 posts2024-02: 69 posts2024-03: 58 posts2024-04: 63 posts2024-05: 45 posts2024-06: 52 posts2024-07: 48 posts2024-08: 48 posts2024-09: 63 posts2024-10: 57 posts2024-11: 58 posts2024-12: 63 posts2025-01: 69 posts2025-02: 42 posts2025-03: 49 posts2025-04: 58 posts2025-05: 45 posts2025-06: 49 posts2025-07: 39 posts2025-08: 47 posts2025-09: 64 posts2025-10: 67 posts2025-11: 61 posts2025-12: 59 posts2026-01: 79 posts2026-02: 88 posts2026-03: 96 posts2026-04: 60 posts2026-05: 50 posts2026-06: 60 posts2026-07: 53 posts2026-08: 59 posts2026-09: 57 posts
2020-012026-09

Posts per month · first and latest months may be partial.

01 / EXPLORE THROUGH TIME

Timeline

Start with the latest. Scroll back through time, or zoom in for more.

Year by yearUp to 5 stories per year
2026602 stories
Anti-social: It's fads, not friends, which now dominate social media feeds↗ bbc.com · HN · 464 comments · 688 points · Jun 08, 2026
Age verification for social media, the beginning of the end for a free internet?↗ mullvad.net · HN · 527 comments · 590 points · Jun 01, 2026
Attention Media ≠ Social Networks↗ susam.net · HN · 270 comments · 653 points · Feb 22, 2026
Ask HN: How can we solve the loneliness epidemic?↗ news.ycombinator.com · HN · 1245 comments · 799 points · Jan 15, 2026
I rebooted my social life↗ takes.jamesomalley.co.uk · HN · 407 comments · 528 points · Jan 01, 2026
2025649 stories
The case against social media is stronger than you think↗ arachnemag.substack.com · HN · 290 comments · 348 points · Sep 13, 2025
Nobody has a personality anymore: we are products with labels↗ freyaindia.co.uk · HN · 498 comments · 551 points · Jul 06, 2025
I built something that changed my friend group's social fabric↗ blog.danpetrolito.xyz · HN · 264 comments · 601 points · Jun 28, 2025
Mark Zuckerberg says social media is over↗ newyorker.com · HN · 924 comments · 531 points · Apr 24, 2025
Show HN: I built an active community of trans people online↗ t4t.social · HN · 344 comments · 484 points · Jan 23, 2025
2024701 stories
The Collapse of Self-Worth in the Digital Age↗ thewalrus.ca · HN · 189 comments · 219 points · Sep 21, 2024
Have ‘hobby’ apps become the new social networks?↗ theguardian.com · HN · 251 comments · 225 points · Sep 08, 2024
The upstream cause of the youth mental health crisis is the loss of community↗ afterbabel.com · HN · 770 comments · 800 points · Aug 02, 2024
Attribution is dying, clicks are dying↗ sparktoro.com · HN · 243 comments · 261 points · Jul 29, 2024
Yes, social media is a cause of the epidemic of teenage mental illness↗ afterbabel.com · HN · 1164 comments · 1164 points · Apr 09, 2024
2023795 stories
The dark side of social media on youth mental health↗ psypost.org · HN · 67 comments · 98 points · Dec 25, 2023
People aren't posting on social media as much↗ wsj.com · HN · 47 comments · 56 points · Dec 24, 2023
The Slow Death of Authenticity in an Attention Economy↗ coryzue.com · HN · 11 comments · 41 points · Oct 27, 2023
Social media is a cause, not a correlate, of mental illness in teen girls↗ jonathanhaidt.substack.com · HN · 53 comments · 167 points · Feb 22, 2023
I deleted all my social media 3 yrs ago and I hardcore regret it everyday↗ old.reddit.com · HN · 14 comments · 41 points · Jan 13, 2023
2022742 stories
Promotion of alternative social platforms policy↗ help.twitter.com · HN · 215 comments · 370 points · Dec 18, 2022
Is this the end of social networking?↗ reb00ted.org · HN · 471 comments · 565 points · Aug 11, 2022
The OG Social Network: Other People’s Websites↗ blog.jim-nielsen.com · HN · 147 comments · 331 points · Aug 04, 2022
Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]↗ judiciary.senate.gov · HN · 1074 comments · 818 points · May 05, 2022
Show HN: Slow Social, a social network built for friends, not influencers↗ slowsocial.us · HN · 368 comments · 752 points · Apr 16, 2022
2021791 stories
Reasons to Quit Social Media↗ durmonski.com · HN · 269 comments · 421 points · Sep 22, 2021
The internet didn’t kill counterculture – you just won’t find it on Instagram↗ documentjournal.com · HN · 436 comments · 559 points · Mar 12, 2021
“User engagement” is code for “addiction”↗ medium.com · HN · 266 comments · 711 points · Mar 04, 2021
“User Engagement” Is Code for “Addiction”↗ craigwritescode.medium.com · HN · 336 comments · 737 points · Feb 16, 2021
Heavy social media use associated with lower mental health in adolescents↗ bbc.com · HN · 348 comments · 774 points · Jan 27, 2021
2020871 stories
As internet forums die off, finding community can be harder than ever↗ engadget.com · HN · 447 comments · 468 points · Nov 19, 2020
The Social Dilemma↗ thesocialdilemma.com · HN · 405 comments · 577 points · Sep 20, 2020
Ask HN: What do you think about “The Social Dilemma”?↗ news.ycombinator.com · HN · 248 comments · 331 points · Sep 14, 2020
Alcohol as a social technology to check the trustworthiness of others (2014)↗ hndex.org · HN · 391 comments · 360 points · Aug 08, 2020
De-escalating social media conflict↗ nickpunt.com · HN · 335 comments · 583 points · Jul 04, 2020
Scroll through time ↕

02 / CATCH UP

The conversation now

Popular stories, with attention fading over roughly two weeks.

Kids turned low-traffic NPR Spotify comments into a secret group chat↗ thisamericanlife.org · HN · 89 comments · 135 points · Sep 28, 2026
Does Reddit have an astroturfing problem? What the data suggests↗ petervijeh.com · HN · 78 comments · 51 points · Sep 28, 2026
Teen Social Media Bans Miss the Point↗ thereader.mitpress.mit.edu · HN · 119 comments · 70 points · Sep 20, 2026
Finger: the 1971 social network that never died↗ en.andros.dev · HN · 125 comments · 328 points · Aug 18, 2026
8 in 10 people aged 16-34 say smartphone use harms their everyday life↗ nltimes.nl · HN · 2 comments · 15 points · Sep 23, 2026

03 / GO DEEPER

Follow your curiosity

Find a particular story, revisit a year, or see what resonated.

Highest rated · the last 30 days

Kids turned low-traffic NPR Spotify comments into a secret group chat↗ thisamericanlife.org · HN · 89 comments · 135 points · Sep 28, 2026
Teen Social Media Bans Miss the Point↗ thereader.mitpress.mit.edu · HN · 119 comments · 70 points · Sep 20, 2026
Does Reddit have an astroturfing problem? What the data suggests↗ petervijeh.com · HN · 78 comments · 51 points · Sep 28, 2026
I turned off my algorithm for 24 hours. Is this how social media used to be?↗ theguardian.com · HN · 1 comments · 19 points · Sep 11, 2026
8 in 10 people aged 16-34 say smartphone use harms their everyday life↗ nltimes.nl · HN · 2 comments · 15 points · Sep 23, 2026
About half of Americans say they spend too much time on their smartphone↗ pewresearch.org · HN · 4 comments · 14 points · Sep 02, 2026
Why No One Wants to Date Tech Bros↗ wired.com · HN · 20 comments · 12 points · Sep 24, 2026
Influential people don't network, they build social capital↗ thecaringtechie.com · HN · 0 comments · 10 points · Sep 13, 2026
Ask HN: Do you regret using Social Networking apps?↗ news.ycombinator.com · HN · 21 comments · 9 points · Sep 09, 2026
Australians will be able to switch off social media algorithms↗ bbc.co.uk · HN · 1 comments · 9 points · Sep 07, 2026

10 stories shown.

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