With rare exceptions, Hacker News comments are not about the people, they're about the content. I read HN because it has a generally excellent signal to noise ratio. If "social websites" encompass anything that allows a viewer to post a comment then even the guestbooks of ages past would be considered social.

Yes, but different is some ways. There are valuable discussions that happens here and that are improving my experience. This is why I log here and spend around 2-3 hours a day.

I really don't feel that productive when using Twitter and Facebook.