HN is unusual because it is that way. There's nothing wrong with that.
But let's put it this way. If I find a popular article on a ScienceX site I often find it links to a journal article which may or may not be open access, let's assume that it is.
Posting to HN I will usually post the open access article.
Posting to Mastodon or Bluesky I will usually post the ScienceX link because those platforms can find an image in those articles but can't find an image in a paper in Nature. (Note on those platforms I get replies like "this is over my head" when I post a real paper whereas nobody in HN wants to admit that vulnerability)
If somebody makes an HN clone which merges in images, those images are going to have a big impact on people's engagement with that clone.
But let's put it this way. If I find a popular article on a ScienceX site I often find it links to a journal article which may or may not be open access, let's assume that it is.
Posting to HN I will usually post the open access article.
Posting to Mastodon or Bluesky I will usually post the ScienceX link because those platforms can find an image in those articles but can't find an image in a paper in Nature. (Note on those platforms I get replies like "this is over my head" when I post a real paper whereas nobody in HN wants to admit that vulnerability)
If somebody makes an HN clone which merges in images, those images are going to have a big impact on people's engagement with that clone.