I think there is quite a difference between HN and most other social networks, the general level of discussion is significantly higher than almost any other online place I've visited.
The biggest problem for me personally with HN is that the front page updates every few minutes. To counteract this I made https://hackerdaily.io, it's Hacker News, but only with yesterday's posts. This really helps me to not check it every time I'm bored and want some dopamine and to actually read more of the articles and discussions.
How did you come to the conclusion that Blendle didn't get the major national newspapers on board? In the old model every single major newspapers was since the start on board and only the NRC left in 2016. With Premium all major newspapers except NRC and de Telegraaf are on board. So practically every newspaper in the Netherlands is on board with both the micro-payment the subscription model.
The biggest problem for me personally with HN is that the front page updates every few minutes. To counteract this I made https://hackerdaily.io, it's Hacker News, but only with yesterday's posts. This really helps me to not check it every time I'm bored and want some dopamine and to actually read more of the articles and discussions.