4 ms·
Dang, mind changing the title here? "Otherwise please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize." Feels important for YC'
by arikr 7y ago
Dang, mind changing the title here? "Otherwise please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize."
Feels important for YC's submissions to follow the guidelines, otherwise it tells everyone else - hey why bother following them yourself when the people associated with the site don't follow them.
- dang 7y agoWhen the submitter is clearly the author of an article or project, we give some leeway about how they present their work to HN. You can see that most clearly at https://news.ycombinator.com/show https://news.ycombinator.com/show. The exception, of course, would be if the title is misleading or baity, but "YC's new guide to Raising a Series A" isn't. The way to understand the site guidelines is in a 'spirit of the law' way, not a 'letter of the law' way. If you watch closely you'll notice plenty of little deviations, but they should be in keeping with the underlying principles. In the case of the title guideline, the principles are (1) titles should be accurate and neutral (i.e. not misleading or linkbait) and (2) the content should get to speak for itself, and not be replaced by something that the submitter imposes over the author. When the submitter is the author, #2 shifts a bit. I appreciate your point, though, about needing a higher degree of visible consistency when the content is from YC. I'm happy to change the submission title, but I suggested to Aaron to change the article title instead and I think that's what they are going to do. Will check back in a bit. Thanks! Edit: looks like that's done now.
- arikr 7y agoThanks dang, that makes sense! Thanks for including the thought behind it as well.