HN Explorer

Ask HN: Are My Links Really That Boring/Spammy?

6 points by kcoop ↗ HN
I submitted two links today, one of my app's launch, the other an article in GeekWire about the app. Neither lasted more than a few seconds on the front page.

Am I doing it wrong?

Edit: this one didn't even get on the front page.

10 comments

[ 5.5 ms ] story [ 32.5 ms ] thread
danso
Getting on the HN front page is a crapshoot...it's only partially related to the content of the submission and the headline, and strongly related to what else is trending and who happens to be checking the 'New' links. Everytime I think I'm being deliberately ignored, I think of the time poor Jeremy Ashkenas had to submit a PHP-related link just to get noticed: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2864185
kcoop
Thanks for the reply, danso, I thought I might be in the Cone of Silence. Any thoughts on how to get there without being spammy?

I've been reading HN regularly for several years, so it feels a little weird to finally have something to say and have it just disappear like that.

danso
It's just luck, I think...probably only 1 out of 20 of the links I submit get more than a few upvotes.

In regards to your app submission, the title does sound too spammy...and the content is probably a turn off for most HN users, who don't like having to actually log in/download something before finding out what it does. I'd consider writing a blog post that walks step-by-step through some of the technology/code you used to implement your app...Most people probably aren't initially excited by a treasure hunt app, but many of us hackers always like to be inspired by novel ways to use image recognition and/or GPS.

kcoop
That's what I was thinking the geekwire article would help with. But yeah, a tech article is a great idea, thanks!
throwaway420
I'm not 100% sure how it works, but I think the mods are very trigger happy when it comes to deleting content that they don't judge to be appropriate. This has a positive effect on maintaining the quality of the overall posts, but is a negative when one person's opinion shuts down a potentially interesting topic.

I think you erred by trying to make two posts about the same thing in one day that. That might be something that gets you flagged.

Sealy
I noticed that I tend to get upvotes for posting genuinely interesting articles. Or at least articles that I think are going to be interesting (and from a good source). The posting policy here encourages value adding tech links.

Most of them are from tech news sites and out of 5 links I would post, 4 of them will get 2-3 karma and drop off very quick and 1 might get 20+ karma.

kcoop
I've seen a lot of posts here over the years that are asking for community feedback, and that's what I was thinking I was doing. Maybe if I had prefaced it 'Show HN'?

The second submission was from a tech news site (geekwire.com).

I guess the target demographic for Klikaklu (outdoorsy people and families) doesn't really strike a chord here.

jefflinwood
This is probably the first HN readers have heard about your app, and it doesn't appear to be backed by a larget company, so they probably just skimmed the link in the new list and didn't even click on it.

One suggestion would have been to title it "Show HN: My first iOS app, real life scavenger hunts, covered in Geekwire", so at least it would make this ask section, where the links get a little bit more of a chance for upvotes.

Neither of your submissions had any upvotes, so I'm guessing it just got pushed off by a rush of other news.

In particular, for the last few weeks here, the front page has been overwhelmed with one story in particular, so startup launches and programming topics are going to fall by the wayside - it may have just been a bad time to launch on HN.

kcoop
Yeah, I should have done this as a Show HN. Live and learn.

And you're right about the avalanche of news. Feeling kind of (ahem) snowed in right now.

Not that I want this particular story to go away.

tptacek
Did you consider finding a Snowden angle for your launch story?