3 ms·

Em... aren’t we all doing that for ycombinator right now?

• ses1984 6y ago
  They haven't tried to overtly, aggressively monetize hacker news. Also subjectively the quality of the comments is still pretty high compared to other similar sites.
  • vertex-four 6y ago
    Hacker News is a marketing tool for Y Combinator and the companies they invest in - there’s a reason it’s on news.ycombinator.com and not e.g. hackernews.org, and a reason YC’s application periods and companies get hyped up on here. There’s a reason that pg’s writings get discussed ad infinitum. It is also, secondarily, basically the “social media” equivalent of a newspaper - a mechanism for YC to push their opinion of how the world should work and create a consensus around that ideology. Putting ads next to someone else’s content isn’t the only way you can make money off it.
    • mmm_grayons 6y ago
      All true, but there is also a lot of interesting stuff on the site, because there are a lot of interesting people. I don't really care if YC startups get to post at #6 on the front page occasionally. Plus, they're often interesting, so it's "targeted advertising" but done the right way.
      • vertex-four 6y ago
        Aye, you’re very welcome to sell your time and labour for something you get out of it. It’s just... be careful to know what you’re trading it for.