I can get on board with it for sure.

Theres a paper that studied the spread of misinformation online, back before COVID - they found that messages cascaded through more science and research oriented networks differently than they cascaded through conspiracy communities.

Popularity is not a sign of Signal. It’s a sign of being able to scratch the limbic system and zeitgeist at the same time.

For a site like HN, popularity isn’t a good predictive signal.