HN used to be better than :reddit-logo:, because it was just people talking semi-competently about startup business and the latest tech fads. It's not that the community was any better, it's that the worst tech opinion is more sufferable than the average political one.

Then HN started allowing political and news topics, which their user base is just as clueless about as reddit, with an even bigger lolbertarian streak. Then in 2020 they allowed people to "just asking questions" about the pandemic and vaccines, turned into it a safe haven for insane right-wing cranks over the course of like four months.