I'd clarify this as reading Hacker News comments, something I've only started doing recently. Its turned an adventure in increasing my browser tab density (shiny articles), to a deep discussion on the finer points of an important knowledge item (Implications of Oracle buying NetSuite).
i.e. Depth of knowledge rather than breadth of shallow knowledge (reading the headlines only).
Nowadays, I almost never click the links in HN and only read the comments. Most of the time, they give a good summary and additional insight. Only if I find the comments interesting, I click on the original link.
But it helps to live in a different time zone (Germany) than most HN users.
i.e. Depth of knowledge rather than breadth of shallow knowledge (reading the headlines only).