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This is sort of a counterpoint to @grayruby's recent post, How Many Stackers Do You Subscribe To?, although I had already been planning on making it. It is also a follow up to my post, The Zen of Hiding Zap Notifications.
The experience of Stacker News can be hectic, cluttered, and prescripted, if we let it, but it can also be exploratory, surprising, and delightful.
When I first came to Stacker News, I didn't know anyone by nym. I had no subscriptions to tell me what I should read. I scanned through headlines, finding things that peaked my curiosity. I was rarely distracted by notifications. It was a veritable Age of Discovery.
Along the way, I eventually gravitated towards certain writers and didn't want to miss out on anything they wrote. That seemed natural enough, especially when some were in other parts of the world and write posts that might get buried before I see them.
That landed me in a state where I was mostly just keeping up with my subscriptions. Though the authors were still making great content, I was no longer discovering it. It was being delivered automatically. That feels different, in a meaningful way.
I took the plunge and unsubscribed from almost everything. Now, I'm back to wandering around the Wild West and stumbling upon items of interest.
The now legendary Stacker @elvismercury liked to talk about Ephemerality and Evergreen-ness. There's value to both, no doubt, but there's something nice about catching an ephemeral post before it disappears, rather than just catching up on a reading queue.
I subscribe to some "interesting stackers" only when I am away from my desk for more than 2 days. This way I can be informed more or less what was posted during my departure.
Otherwise I just read almost all the posts from the "recent", except the muted territories (I have muted quite some).
ofc not all stackers can do that.
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TIL territories can be muted.
Deploying more zen β€” steady lads.
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On stacker, I have never relied on subscriptions. I have always just browsed around until something catches my attention. I have unsubscribed for all kinds of things in my life and it feels great. I have no streaming services, no monthly bills. I think when we let go of attachments, we make space for new and exciting things. We open ourselves up for expansion.
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I do have some real life subscriptions, but we do make an effort to pair them down.
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Excellent I am in a quarreling mood today. Debated about the rewards algo, challenging pub to rivalry games. You sure you want some of this?
Haha
Joking aside I am glad you posted the counter argument.
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Where's the rewards algo debate? That sounds right up my alley.
You're the one who started this whole Zen thing. It's not my fault if you can't keep up.
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Aren't you aware @grayruby has been throwing some really hard punches there. A sure winner for me.
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I didn't see it until Darth tipped me off. Seems like a continuation of what we were talking about yesterday.
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πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚
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I wonder who you muted.
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In the SN saloon #683500
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I like notifications for interactions but for the joy of wandering, discovering and meandering no subs for me. Now time to re-read send and the art of motorcycle maintenance
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I only subscribe to a few folks, 7 or 8, and posts only. I find a few people consistently interesting. Also a couple of territories like ~bitcoin_Mining. But I still have my zap notifications disabled due to your previous zen post
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Yes, its nice not having extra notifications. Also, if you are bored, you can always check their old posts. Its always nice to see a message on an old post. Especially when things are kind of quiet.
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piqued or peaked curiosity
is that another British/American English thing
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Mistake on my part. If it's an American thing, it would only be because of our poor school system.
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Haha fair call... I feel like I've seen it two or three tines recently sorry for being so pedantic
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By all means. My alter ego is known as Needlessly Pedantic Man, so I appreciate it.
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Hitting random is kind of fun. I think i might do that more.
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I like how you ended it with a punch - reading queue.
The great thing about the addition of the recent tab is how it allows our posts to gain a new lease of life every now and then. Ephemeral isn’t forever!
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Adding a reading queue to the podcast queue to the book queue to the email queue
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In my case, I've only subscribed to one stacker. I like to read everything recent, but it has happened to me that someone has made a suggestion in a comment and then I lose it. I then have to search through the notifications. But in general I like to search and find things that surprise me
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i didnt even know it was possible to subscribe to stackers here
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24 sats \ 4 replies \ @anon 14 Sep
deleted by author
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What if I've never muted anyone? I must be on a different path.
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I don't think I have either.
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36 sats \ 1 reply \ @anon 14 Sep
deleted by author
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Maybe one day I'll ascend to your plane, but today is not that day.
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