Mostly for me it's a place to highlight interesting writing/content that I feel should be read more widely. It's really fun to find someone's heartwritten article, post it here, and, if it trends, have them mention it excitedly on Twitter. (That's happened a few times.)
I also appreciate the discussions, though there are slacks that I'm on that have deeper, more focused discussions.
It's also a great way for me to record links that I find interesting, even if they get only one or two votes. (I also auto tweet all my HN links, so it serves double duty.)
Finally, I appreciate both the range of the populace (in terms of viewpoint and expertise) and at the same time the lack of fragmentation (as contrasted with the other main internet forum I monitor, reddit).
I also appreciate the discussions, though there are slacks that I'm on that have deeper, more focused discussions.
It's also a great way for me to record links that I find interesting, even if they get only one or two votes. (I also auto tweet all my HN links, so it serves double duty.)
Finally, I appreciate both the range of the populace (in terms of viewpoint and expertise) and at the same time the lack of fragmentation (as contrasted with the other main internet forum I monitor, reddit).