Interesting points about social networks and link aggregators. I think you’re right.
But at the same time, after years of reading Hacker News, I start to notice and come across the same authors, and I find myself going “Oh I remember you” when I browse HN. It’s possible that this experience is rare, but my impression is that I’m a pretty “middle of the pack” reader, and so I expect that others have similar experiences. So then, it seems to me that the effect is still large enough to be worth noting.
Interesting points about social networks and link aggregators. I think you’re right.
But at the same time, after years of reading Hacker News, I start to notice and come across the same authors, and I find myself going “Oh I remember you” when I browse HN. It’s possible that this experience is rare, but my impression is that I’m a pretty “middle of the pack” reader, and so I expect that others have similar experiences. So then, it seems to me that the effect is still large enough to be worth noting.