HNs best feature is the HN community, and that seems to have been grown out of 1) the seed users and 2) the guidelines. None of these things are technical featu

HNs best feature is the HN community, and that seems to have been grown out of 1) the seed users and 2) the guidelines. None of these things are technical features. What the website has contributed is simplicity - the site provides just enough features to start and maintain discussion, but otherwise gets out of the way.