PG: The biggest source of stress for me at YC was running HN
I think there&#x27;s a larger point in what he said. Basically all current social media ends up optimizing for creating outrage, spawning mobs, less thoughtful discussion and more vitriolic arguments, etc. It&#x27;s becoming a real concern to me that this is going to drive us into some kind of civil war or something if we don&#x27;t find some way to check it.<p>The outrage seems to be like a drug. Nothing generates engagement quite like it, even if it&#x27;s toxic in the long-term. So all social media platforms that embrace it grow bigger until they become near-monopolies, and all that don&#x27;t so far have had a hard time growing userbases, making money, and generally fade into irrelevance.<p>It would be a real service to society IMO if we could find a way to somehow generate enough engagement and energy to challenge the big players without the outrage culture.