Don’t need to. Both because they A) don’t need to visit the site and because B) they don’t need to sign-up.

A. Don’t need to visit the site

• News is available elsewhere and content most of the time is just aggregated or a filtered of what appears elsewhere on the web.
• Encouraging/highlighting more long-form user generated content and backlinks to StackerNews, would increase the perception that it is more than just an aggregation service.
• Limited breadth & topics (will be a popular answer). I know this is subject to change in future and has already improved with the segregation of Nostr content, but still a barrier if don’t live & breathe these topics.
• Content is lost if not seen that day or week. This is a biggie, because the experience is the very same for returning & engaged users. When returning to the site for the first time in months, users are not made aware of content (or sats) that they have missed during that time. It’s just lost or missed forevermore, unless they go digging. Adding this would help reinforce what an awesome source of value is here.

B. Don’t need to sign-up to see content

• Content is completely open, but for good reason.
• The trend with social sites is to optimise for sign-ups and then first few engagements.
• In traditional social media that impacts the experience for those landing on the site, coercing them into sign-up. I know this is something you’ve made great efforts to avoid k00b.
• I feel like SN is optimised in the complete opposite direction for the experience, in terms of approachability, transparency and/or zaps. A little more hand-holding & maybe a dismissible modal might help. Perhaps a middle ground to be sought between both those scenarios.