HN Explorer

Ask HN: is HN so random?

2 points by arisAlexis ↗ HN
I have written an article on medium. I posted it here with my username and got 2! Upvotes. I said ok the HN crowd doesn't like the article. After a few days, I see my article link submitted by some random (but from lesswrong which I cross posted) trending in the top page and finally it got 140 upvotes.

Is HN so random that depends on the time of day or if 2-3 people see.it fast so they can uplift it or is my account somehow negative due to some past controversial commenrs(I have 950 karma) or is lesswrong so much better as link than medium?

8 comments

[ 5.8 ms ] story [ 26.7 ms ] thread
Tomte
Front page placement is a lot of luck. Don't think about it. It leads nowhere.

I'm one of the most prolific submitters here, and I still cannot predict in any way which article makes it. There's surprises in both directions all the time.

jjgreen
It is pretty random, I've had submissions flagged only to find the same link submitted by someone else a few hours later end up on the front page and get 500 upvotes. Not that it matters, a link I like got more views.
yorwba
> is lesswrong so much better as link than medium?

Yes. Medium.com has a terrible reading experience and is full of garbage. Of course HN is still random and sometimes Medium links manage to overcome the stigma based on the strength of their content, but if you submit low-reputation URLs, you're reducing the chance that e.g. I will even bother to read it. (But I didn't read the LessWrong link when I saw it on the front page either.)

latexr
> Medium.com has a terrible reading experience and is full of garbage.

I once read a comment that said Medium is called that because its content is neither rare nor well done.

Joking aside, the experience is pretty terrible. They inform you that they log user data and set cookies with no clear way to refuse (pretty sure that’s a GDPR violation) and every time I open it there’s a huge banner asking to subscribe. It’s such a pain, I’ve learned to reflexively close the tab every time I land there.

sp332
Not enough people browse /newest, so a lot of stories go by without finding their audience.
RetroTechie
I browse newest regularly. But reading all articles is too time-consuming.

So what to vote on? Something's got to catch attention. Like a descriptive title (vs. obfuscated clickbait) on subjects that interest me. Or link from a blog/site I came across before, and liked.

So yes, beside subject the messenger matters. And there's a good dose of randomness involved. That's not a (very) bad thing, imho.

h2odragon
"Self promotion" isn't often upvoted. If someone else submits your stuff, tho, you're allowed to comment in the thread.
warrenm
I flat-out block Medium, Wired, and a handful of other domains via uBlock Origin

Cannot stand the experience on their sites, so I do not go there