I kind of object to that use of the term, when social media was coined it clearly did not apply to pseudonymous forum sites.

From what I can tell from a brief googling, the term "social media" was coined (or at least an early documented use was) by an AOL executive in 1997. I think that refutes your assertion. AOL usernames tended to be pretty pseudonymous.

I disagree that this is a social media, I don't even look at the names of those who leave comments or those I reply to. It's like I'm reading and talking to the hivemind.

I don't look at the names of commenters on Twitter or Instagram, so those aren't social media either?

HN still serves as a source of distraction for time periods of arbitrary length. TikTok may also not be a social network, but it's distracting and addicting. The content on HN is just a bit more geared towards the intellectual (and The Algorithm is less powerful).

You don't get it. It's social media. You interact get upvotes(dopamine hits). argue and feel entertained through the screen of your device.

These things are all possible in iMessage. Is iMessage social media?

For me what puts Hacker News in the same bucket as Twitter, Reddit, or Facebook is that it’s a constantly refreshing feed of content that requires very little choice or initiative on my end to access. It’s always here, always novel, and I don’t have to think from a blank slate to figure out what I want to read, I just come and pick from the menu that’s been put in front of me.

I can contribute and participate actively by doing critical thinking and leaving comments but I can also read passively and barely even think my own thoughts. For me that passive version is the default.

I agree that social media is not the most accurate term. I wonder what a good alternative would be. “Mindless feed reading” could refer to the act of consuming it.

You are being pedantic. Yes, if you're in a group and exchange discussions which are low-effort(memes) and high-dopamine(outrageous views) you are in the cycle.