One thing that bothers me about news.yc is a certain disposition towards a cargo cult mentality. Maybe that's not quite as prevalent anymore, but if it's being replaced by gossip (the other half of "wasting time observing/analyzing the actions of others"), that's not an improvement.

That being said, there's value in being aware of what's happening around you. I "do my own thing" when I'm not reading or posting on news.yc. If I'm spending time here, then I'm obviously not spending it working on my own thing. A "social news" site would end up pretty quiet and lonely without ever talking about other people.

Then again... how does the quote go? "Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people."