I disagree with this. I think one of the issues I’m running into is that it’s clear to me that there won’t always be something to read in the future. I remember Digg, and other forums. And when it failed there was Reddit for niche topics. And then Reddit has been steadily going downhill for years now, and I see an era soon where niche communities just won’t be on Reddit. It’s already happening. The forums I used to go to are dead. The Reddit communities are dying or dead, and there’s just no communities any more to talk and discuss stuff. It’s hidden away on discord where I can’t find it, or on Facebook or TikTok where things come and go and there’s search. Google is also barely useable for certain topics too. I don’t even know where to go and to find other people that are doing cool stuff other than HN and maybe Twitter, if those die it’s sort of over?
Not saving articles and just relying on them coming to you through places like HN or Reddit or being available on google was great in the heyday but it’s not clear to me that that will continue. The clearest example is for more illicit things like piracy and dark net markets. Stuff that can’t really be hosted on Facebook. If you didn’t save certain information or articles, that information is probably just gone forever
I disagree with the premise. Sure, you don't need to cross-off each and everything in your bookmarks, but they are an excellent way when you want to read something mildly interesting.
> Knowledge is an expiring asset, you might remember a few things now, but, slowly gradually, you’ll be at a point where you remember nothing of it and it’s just like you never read it. In which case, when you need that information you will go and read it and you will then, read more documents around the subject, you will be in the context that’s why you’ll remember it(for a long time).
This is a really bad assumption. Sure, you won't remember most of it, but a few ideas here and there are enough to store a hook in your memory which will be useful when you need the knowledge. Like, I have only a very superficial idea about color theory, but I do recall a long, well-written article on the subject that I read here on HN. If I do regain an interest in the subject, I will search and read it again, and the knowledge will come back to me more efficiently vs if I had not read it at all.
No, for the main reason that when I do want (and have the time) to read about some topic, finding the good stuff is actually really hard. Keeping a record of promising and already read things (marked appropriately) has been immensely useful.
i aggressively mute many of the people who reply to my tweets with "@memdotai mem it" and all the other similar read later spam growth hack apps. peak NPC behavior but I'm also pretty sure they never actually read it later
that said i'm also not without sin. i sit on a mountain of tabs every month. only way i've gotten thru them is to promise my readers that i will recap the news of every month and so every 4 weekends i sit down and blast thru as many as i can and write a halfway decent summary.
i've also mulled a quote: "Be the person your bookmarks show you aspire to be, not the person your feed wants you to be"
I use LinkDing and use the "injector" extension to come back to results later, hence read-it-on-relevance (so far it worked a couple of times, but 90% or more is read-it-never with some eventual read-it-later when commuting by train for example)
there are facts,events,narratives and there is knowledge.
knowledge consists of models of the world we have constructed and learnt, which abstract patterns of facts.
facts,narratives make for banter with friends (bonding) but knowledge helps with action (decision).
when reading, demarcate narratives from models, and/or layout the facts against known mental models. this may point to deficits in mental models, or missing models altogether.
most of my reading unfortunately is mindless soaking up of pointless narratives.
Honestly, I collect articles so that I can find them quickly (I hope) when I need to reference them in a post or conversation. The current "short attention span" internet is a collection of mostly unconnected, disorganized snacks.
A well-written book, for example, has
• Context: The chapters refer to/build on each other.
• Consistency: everything points in the same general direction.
• Completeness: The bits are assembled into a whole without gaps.
Keep this in mind when you're writing a landing page for your project.
Way too often I click on an interesting link only to get confused or repulsed by marketing bs.
Also if you want people to engage with your software project, provide clear build instructions. I've aborted many bugfix PRs because while I like your project I'm not willing to waste hours on trying to get it to build.
I don’t bookmark anymore unless I have a present and pressing need. Instead, I copy the information to my personal note taking application and try to provide enough context to make it searchable. I gave up long ago trying to push my learning into the long tomorrow and instead address what is ahead of me that is in my control.
Not saving articles and just relying on them coming to you through places like HN or Reddit or being available on google was great in the heyday but it’s not clear to me that that will continue. The clearest example is for more illicit things like piracy and dark net markets. Stuff that can’t really be hosted on Facebook. If you didn’t save certain information or articles, that information is probably just gone forever