Signal to noise ratio
In one of his many great YouTube videos, legendary game developer Tim Cain refers to something he calls the signal to noise ratio.
While signal to noise ratio is a real measurement used to compare the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise, in this case Tim used it as a metaphor for the worthiness of online information sources and communities.
Put simply, the worth of spending your time in a particular online community or resource can be judged by considering how much value it regularly provides you, and comparing that against how much useless fluff it serves that wastes your time and energy.
As ever, value in this context is subjective and will depend on your goals. It could be how often a site entertains you, or how frequently it teaches you something useful you can apply at work or home. It could also be how well informed you feel after visiting, or how enriched you are by interacting with other users there.
Since I heard Tim Cain talk about sites in this way, I've often caught myself asking: am I getting a good signal to noise ratio here? I've listed a few below and would be curious to hear others' thoughts on the same.
Sites with bad signal to noise ratio
This is sub-reddit dependent, but I have found that subreddit discussions tend to go in continuous cycles, with the same topics of discussion or questions being raised repeatedly. While breakthroughs in perspective might be reached within specific discussions, there is never overall consensus, so the same arguments and questions are raised over and over. Most Reddit communities are bad at managing this, which ruins the signal to noise ratio. I end up reading the same news, seeing the same questions, and reading the same debates. I've unsubscribed from several subreddits due to this.
X
While I do enjoy following prominent people on X, the platform itself does almost everything possible to serve me content I have no interest in. The modern-day account verification process has also made it tiresome to have to double-check whether an information source is official, too.
Like most modern search engines of its ilk, I find the search experience to have become pretty poor on Google. Between pushing AI-powered chat and the high level of sponsored listings, there's just a lot of "stuff" in the way of me finding the answers I want.
Sites with good signal to noise ratio
Bear ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ**
I enjoy browsing the discovery feed on Bear, which usually feels varied and interesting. On average, I find myself feeling more entertained and enriched from reading a few posts from the Bear-o-sphere than scrolling other social feeds.
Kagi
Kagi is a pretty amazing search engine that does away with all the guff I mentioned earlier and focuses on delivering high quality, relevant results. It does a lot of work to surface results based on their genuine relevance to your search, and is also a great tool for finding information on lesser-known domains. There's even a tool to browse random pages from the "small web", which Kagi describes succinctly as: "the non-commercial part of the web, crafted by individuals to express themselves or share knowledge without seeking any financial gain."
News Minimalist
News Minimalist uses AI for good by helping you to get a good signal to noise ratio from the headlines of the day. It works by assigning a significance score to news, then allowing you to filter by topic and significance. Significance is determined by factors including the scale, magnitude, potential, novelty, immediacy, action-ability, positivity, and credibility of the news. It also re-writes headlines to avoid clickbait. It's not always my primary source of news, but it's great to get a broad selection of headlines.
If you have any examples of sites with bad or good signal to noise ratio, I'd be interested to hear them.