It's a start. I agree HN is a bubble and doesn't reflect real life as a whole. But I do think HN has a significant bearing on US tech. I've been reading HN for nearly 19 years and in that time almost every new major tech, unicorn, or big culture shift is discussed here before it is mainstream.

There has also been a backlash against verification in other communities like Reddit (also a bubble), mainly stemming from Discord's recent announcement.

The discourse is good, and while I wish every user and potential user understood all the pros, cons, and ramifications, I'm also happy we are finally talking about it in our bubbles.