Well, yes.

That’s not really a gotcha statement.

Sure, but it’s also not a useful distinction.

There’s a clear difference of kind between modern social media and the forums/usenet of old.

I really would like to know what exactly you consider a "clear difference" between how Usenet and differ conceptually (e.g., ignoring the GUI, the # of users, and mechanics, [e.g., usenet updates diffused around the globe because we didn't have cloud servers]).

Please back that statement up with some facts.

1. Centralized control by for-profit corporations (and their investors) chasing perpetual growth

2. Algorithms driving ever-increasing "engagement" to deliver advertising

3. Surveillance capitalism

Sorry, I was refering to Hacker News, not all social media. My question was unclear.

1. HN is centralized, but not for-profit.

2. HN does not drive engagement, AFAIK

3. HN is not surveillance capitalism.

You haven't demonstrated how Usenet differs from HN, but since my question had a typo and omitted HN, I can see how that is confusing.

"social" implies that relationships between users are a core part of the platform. I can't follow another user or mark them as a "friend" on HN.

HN users put a lot less emphasis on who says something and we focus more on what they say. There are exceptions of course, because we have our own share of renowned experts posting here. But for the most part, people don't take note of what username writes a post.

Ah, thanks. That's a good answer. I was coming at it from the discussion angle only. However, both Usenet and HN don't allow you to friend people, like other social media. I see I accidentally dropped the term HN, which makes my question unclear. I still don't see spiritual difference between HN and Usenet when framed around your response, though.

> There’s a clear difference of kind between modern social media and the forums/usenet of old.

No, there isn't.

But that makes the term "social media" a very broad category that doesn't tell you much.

Yes but more importantly it's a definition that allows those who wield it to feel as though they are on the right hand side of the 'bell curve meme'.