3 ms·

Ask HN: When is HN most busy?

5 points by mkrecny 16y ago

In truth, I want to know what is the best time to post something, to maximize visibility.

JacobAldridge 16y ago
I like the 'in truth', since it's possibly two separate questions. As I understand it, HN is most busy in the afternoon US time on a weekday. This is borne out by the rate at which new submissions move off the 'New' page (http://news.ycombinator.com/newest http://news.ycombinator.com/newest) - in the morning London time (ie, the wee hours in the US), that takes a little over an hour; by afternoon US time it's usually under 30 minutes. (I believe this is borne out by other data as well - that's just the one I've witnessed over time.) So, the largest number of people are on here in that time slot. However, that doesn't mean your visibility is maximised. You want to be on the front page across that time, which is harder to achieve if you submit at that time - after all, your submission will have less than half the time to be seen on the New page before disappearing. So it may be that you want to post mid-morning US Time, having more of a chance to be upgraded to the front page in time for the US afternoon, where hopefully your front page status will maintain enough traction to remain there. Of course, front page success is lightning in a bottle. There's never any guarantee that you will make it there, or stay there for long - AND success in doing so is far more dependent on quality and relevance of your content, than it is about time.
- bmelton 16y ago
  The flip side, of course, is that even if you don't make it to the front page, there are probably more eyes on a new submission during peak times. If your goal is to get feedback on something, comments matter far more than hitting the front page, so the more potential users that see it, the better.
- mkrecny 16y ago
  Thank you. Your comment makes me realize how US-centric I am. I was expecting an answer comparing West coast vs East coast behavior at various times during the day. It's certainly true to say that (afternoon in CA) != (afternoon in NY).
  - JacobAldridge 16y ago
    Yes - I still haven't got my head around intra-continental time differences across the US so I certainly generalised there!
hammock 16y ago
Two metrics of interest here- a) when is the rate of new submissions lowest; and b) when is rate of visitors highest. There is probably some correlation there, but due to submission rates throughout the day, the sweet spot you're looking for might not be exactly at the peak of web traffic.
RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago
I can't believe no one pointed you at this analysis: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2022547 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2022547

5 points by mkrecny 16y ago

In truth, I want to know what is the best time to post something, to maximize visibility.

I like the 'in truth', since it's possibly two separate questions. As I understand it, HN is most busy in the afternoon US time on a weekday. This is borne out by the rate at which new submissions move off the 'New' page (http://news.ycombinator.com/newest http://news.ycombinator.com/newest) - in the morning London time (ie, the wee hours in the US), that takes a little over an hour; by afternoon US time it's usually under 30 minutes. (I believe this is borne out by other data as well - that's just the one I've witnessed over time.) So, the largest number of people are on here in that time slot. However, that doesn't mean your visibility is maximised. You want to be on the front page across that time, which is harder to achieve if you submit at that time - after all, your submission will have less than half the time to be seen on the New page before disappearing. So it may be that you want to post mid-morning US Time, having more of a chance to be upgraded to the front page in time for the US afternoon, where hopefully your front page status will maintain enough traction to remain there. Of course, front page success is lightning in a bottle. There's never any guarantee that you will make it there, or stay there for long - AND success in doing so is far more dependent on quality and relevance of your content, than it is about time.

bmelton 16y ago
The flip side, of course, is that even if you don't make it to the front page, there are probably more eyes on a new submission during peak times. If your goal is to get feedback on something, comments matter far more than hitting the front page, so the more potential users that see it, the better.
mkrecny 16y ago
Thank you. Your comment makes me realize how US-centric I am. I was expecting an answer comparing West coast vs East coast behavior at various times during the day. It's certainly true to say that (afternoon in CA) != (afternoon in NY).
- JacobAldridge 16y ago
  Yes - I still haven't got my head around intra-continental time differences across the US so I certainly generalised there!

hammock 16y ago

Two metrics of interest here- a) when is the rate of new submissions lowest; and b) when is rate of visitors highest. There is probably some correlation there, but due to submission rates throughout the day, the sweet spot you're looking for might not be exactly at the peak of web traffic.

RiderOfGiraffes 16y ago

I can't believe no one pointed you at this analysis: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2022547 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2022547