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I personally don't find these types of articles interesting either, but the HN guidelines say this: On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting
by codexon 17y ago
I personally don't find these types of articles interesting either, but the HN guidelines say this:
On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups.
So if this story has upvotes, I presume some "good hackers" here have found it interesting.
- derefr 17y agoYou presume wrongly. Communities begin with a "primary demographic"—people who are there for what it says on the tin. Over time, though, these communities start to lure in "secondary demographics" that are interested in both the community topic and other topics, but then those people in turn lure in "tertiary demographics," who aren't interested in the stated purpose of the community at all, only about the hybrid on-/off-topic stuff the secondary demographic posts. The tertiary demographic then posts stories like this one, which the secondary demographic upvotes, and the primary tolerates because they value the participation of the secondary demographic. Before you know it, the tertiary utterly dominates the community, and there is no more topic to be "on topic" about (especially in communities where "on topic" is small and static, but the community allows growth despite this.)
- jseliger 17y agoTo me, "on topic" means an article that is a) not conventional/obvious, b) deep, in the sense that it provides greater analysis than most newspapers/magazines/blog posts, and c) makes me think of some process, idea, trend, method, or ideology in a new way (which ties back into a). All three of those could be further developed as points, but I think they nonetheless help describe what HN is about. I think "Marry Him!" matches those criteria (since I submitted it): few if any sources covering mating markets and their incentives in as much depth; the stories match some of the data, as developed in books like Tim Harford's The Logic of Life; I hadn't realized the extent to which sexual politics change as one ages. Consequently, "Marry Him!" seems like it would be interesting to the HN crowd. So does the article on Haskell first impression, with its discussion of monads. To me, both belong.
- billswift 17y agoYou might find David Friedman's chapter "The Economics of Love and Marriage" interesting http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Academic/Price_Theory/PThy_Chapter_21/PThy_Chap_21.html http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Academic/Price_Theory/PThy_Cha...
- cynicalkane 17y agoI'm interested in hacking, startups, and also the OP article. Why do you claim I don't exist?
- derefr 17y agoYou exist; you are exactly within the "secondary demographic" I mentioned.
- billswift 17y agoUnless you are claiming the "primary demographic" are a bunch of monomaniacal fruitcakes, everyone here is part of your "secondary demographic".
- derefr 17y agoI was trying to be general; sorry if it didn't make sense without examples: A "demographic"—think TV viewers—isn't composed of what people like in general, but only why they're interacting with your community in particular. The original primary demographic of HN was "Hackers who are here to talk about Startups." That demographic is very small, so it was replaced by its own secondary demographic, "Hackers who are here to talk about Whatever Hackers Like Talking About." Now, the secondary demographic is "non-hackers who like talking about some of the same stuff hackers talk about," and the tertiary demographic is "non-hackers who only care about the stuff that the other non-hackers talk about, and don't care about anything that hackers care about."
- ciupicri 17y agoIt's an article about hacking women :-)