4 ms·

Worse thought for you: top HN authors are paid PR people.

neuland 10y ago
I've seen this a lot on the internet, especially on Reddit. And, I'm not saying it doesn't happen. Native advertising is everywhere now-a-days. But, people are always vague on details, which makes me somewhat skeptical. I'd be interested to hear more information on how this works. Like, what U.S. companies are doing this (either PR companies doing the posting or their clients)? How much are they paying, and what kind of outcomes do they like to see? Like, how do they measure success? Does it work? etc.
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  See https://reddit.com/r/hailcorporate https://reddit.com/r/hailcorporate Spottings of planted / submarine / astroturf pieces.
  - neuland 10y ago
    Ooh, thanks for the reminder about this subreddit. I've actually been there before and remember it being quite funny. Lots of examples of subtle (and not so subtle) product placement.
morgante 10y ago
Do you have any evidence for this outrageously false claim? I know several of the top commenters [0] and know they are absolutely not paid PR people. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/leaders https://news.ycombinator.com/leaders
- oh_sigh 10y ago
  Referencing 0 but not including it in your post doesn't hell your argument
  - morgante 10y ago
    I'm going to thank you for providing a "polite" reminder to fix my accidental omission.
    - oh_sigh 10y ago
      Okay...I'll wait for your thanks...
- beachstartup 10y ago
  how do you define paid? out of the top, say, 100 commenters, how many are affiliated with YC in some way? startups in some way? startups discussed on YC in some way? this entire site (hacker news) is a PR platform for Y combinator, its startups, and the industry in general (as a special interest group). did you think it was a charity? there's nothing wrong with it but let's be real here, people.
dredmorbius 10y ago
Citation required.
dictum 10y ago
I can't speak for top HN authors, but that recent post about Pornhub bypassing ad blockers with websockets had me intrigued. So many comments were fawning over the porn industry — how fun it is to be a developer of porn sites and how innovative the industry is.
- ben_jones 10y ago
  I just think people wanted to be edgy and support porn tech because it's somewhat taboo. That said pornhub.com has a fantastic PR approach on sited like Reddit and Imgur, as well as good marketing in general (IMO) so it wouldn't surprise me either..

I've seen this a lot on the internet, especially on Reddit. And, I'm not saying it doesn't happen. Native advertising is everywhere now-a-days. But, people are always vague on details, which makes me somewhat skeptical. I'd be interested to hear more information on how this works. Like, what U.S. companies are doing this (either PR companies doing the posting or their clients)? How much are they paying, and what kind of outcomes do they like to see? Like, how do they measure success? Does it work? etc.

dredmorbius 10y ago
See https://reddit.com/r/hailcorporate https://reddit.com/r/hailcorporate Spottings of planted / submarine / astroturf pieces.
- neuland 10y ago
  Ooh, thanks for the reminder about this subreddit. I've actually been there before and remember it being quite funny. Lots of examples of subtle (and not so subtle) product placement.

morgante 10y ago

Do you have any evidence for this outrageously false claim? I know several of the top commenters [0] and know they are absolutely not paid PR people. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/leaders https://news.ycombinator.com/leaders

oh_sigh 10y ago
Referencing 0 but not including it in your post doesn't hell your argument
- morgante 10y ago
  I'm going to thank you for providing a "polite" reminder to fix my accidental omission.
  - oh_sigh 10y ago
    Okay...I'll wait for your thanks...
beachstartup 10y ago
how do you define paid? out of the top, say, 100 commenters, how many are affiliated with YC in some way? startups in some way? startups discussed on YC in some way? this entire site (hacker news) is a PR platform for Y combinator, its startups, and the industry in general (as a special interest group). did you think it was a charity? there's nothing wrong with it but let's be real here, people.

dredmorbius 10y ago

Citation required.

dictum 10y ago

I can't speak for top HN authors, but that recent post about Pornhub bypassing ad blockers with websockets had me intrigued. So many comments were fawning over the porn industry — how fun it is to be a developer of porn sites and how innovative the industry is.

ben_jones 10y ago
I just think people wanted to be edgy and support porn tech because it's somewhat taboo. That said pornhub.com has a fantastic PR approach on sited like Reddit and Imgur, as well as good marketing in general (IMO) so it wouldn't surprise me either..