I'm not sure that lemmy users are different in this from user of Reddit/HackerNews/Facebook/etc.
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I read the TLDR bot at least…
Seems like that gives 90% of the relevant info, then I view the article if there’s anything missing.
Not that it makes a difference, my opinions are formed before I even read the title. I’m dug in, and I’ll never change 😎
I always read the top comment first, because often they have a better article or explain why the article is misleading
Yeah, I go top comment(s) to see if the article is not clickbait. Then I'll read the summary to see if it's any good. Then I'll go to the article itself if those check out.
I generally do this because the articles are often behind paywalls.
I prefer to only read the top line of a meme then post. And no that's not a Lemmy user, that's squidward
Right!? Everyone but us is so stupid for talking about Lemmy (who ever that is) in here, while this is obviously squidward. Sheeple are so stupid!
I don't want to read the thing. I want to discuss the thing that i didn't read with other people who didn't read the thing.
Many articles are only accessible via a VPN, blocked either by my side or theirs. I'm too tired to switch it on and off. Summary bot is very helpful.
Yep, 95% of the news site are cancer
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modern websites are a pain to navigate with popups, paywall, ads, heavy tracking that slows down navigation, autoplaying video ads etc
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modern journalism = let's just report whatever the person or company says without fact checking, contextualizing or taking a stance. I believe this is done because it takes less effort and because it makes sure that the news org doesn't anger any of the persons/organizations it has tides with (for ads or direct funding)
The comments solve both problems, as lemmy is ad- and tracking-free and the people in the comments are mostly real people usually without any vested interests in the things they're discussing.
So OBVIOUSLY I only read the comments. I'll get the content of the article indirectly as it's being discussed.
Also you can use the comments to determine if the article is even worth reading so you don't accidentally give a click to some hack journalism.
This is absolutely true. I get more information and understanding from the discussion in the comments than I do the article. Using other platforms I want to read what people are discussing about the article than the article itself. Brings more depth to the conversation and the article.
I read comments first mostly because a lot of posted articles are behind a paywall or i have to turn off my adblockers and maybe someone posted a tldr
Shoot, they won't just be posting a tl;dr, but a commentary on it, and sometimes really good context from their field or experience. It's basically the article, but written by a more intelligent journalist who is a part of whatever is being reported on, not just observing from interviews and phone calls (and lame corporate website 'about us' pages).
Same as it ever was
Give me an archive link and I'll click it every time. Otherwise, almost never.
Kinda understandable for articles from sites that pester you to disable adblocker or pay for a subscription (WSJ/Wired/Guardian type news sites etc).
Well, we've got the very useful tldr. bot.

Comments > ads
Who here on Lemmy is still seeing ads?
I tried to read the article but it was paywalled. Or it wanted me to turn off my ad blocker before I could read the article. Or it was a video. Or the source was something like www.patriotusaeaglenews.ru.
Why would I read a long, padded, ad-riddled article when I can get a quick and accurate TL;DR in the title and expert commentary in the comments?
Not necessarily a bad thing though.
Think of it this way: There's value in having access to a list of curated content others have deemed "worth reading or looking at". But there is just as much value in engaging in some banter, provided it doesn't lead to outright war in the comments.
I admit, it is tiresome trying to seriously discuss a topic when people haven't actually read the article, but there is still an upside to a topic triggering at least enough interest to where people actually want to engage.
Sir, this is a meme.
Reddit users too
Much better to just post an archive link. Lemmy’s not really big enough to garner this kind of attention yet, but copying article text wholesale is a good way to get DMCA claimed and that’s not fair to do to instance admins.
There’s articles?
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