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Ask HN: Why was my submission suddenly removed from the front page?

I'd watched it rise from 20 to 8 (and was still gaining traction), then refreshed it wasn't there any more. Found it had been bumped to page 2, with no explanation. The post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32917888

metadat 4y ago
It's kind of a stupid and shallow article, so probably people flagged it. Or Dang / the @Dang Algorithm de-ranked it. Whenever an article doesn't meet HN's [boring] guidelines [0], some of the account holders aggressively flag it. This is a good thing on average, because otherwise HN would be shitty in all the same ways as Reddit. At least this way, ze haq0rnewz gets to be shitty in a different way: due to lack of gossip and adolescent humor. The same thing happened to a submission of mine just yesterday with the Beyond Meat Facebiting COO [1]. They don't always get publicly marked as "flagged", though. Sometimes they just drop way far back from FP. In the end, what does it matter? No one person should control what appears on the front page or not, and HN points are truly one of the most worthless forms of currency I can think of. Be grateful some people enjoyed it before it got murdered! I'm sure you made their day a bit brighter. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32905810 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32905810
- montebicyclelo 4y ago
  Thanks for the insight... Although not sure "stupid and shallow" is fair; expecially considering the enthusiastic reception the post got, and the fact that it showcases Stable Diffusion's capabilities (which are only going to get better) and a creative idea that it can be used for. I'd be interested to know whether it was flagging, or moderation.
  - metadat 4y ago
    > Although not sure "stupid and shallow" is fair Just being honest with my best guess, a lot of people around here are even grumpier and more rigid than me. I feel you, it is sometimes disappointing. If you're really curious on how your submission's fate was sealed, I suggest emailing le Dang (hn@ycombinator.com). He's extremely polite and quite pleasant, and has always been generous in answering my questions. One tip: always search https://hn.algolia.com https://hn.algolia.com first. Frequently he just pastes a link to there, because he's answered the question so many times previously.
    - gus_massa 4y ago
      I second the idea of emailing dang. Most of the time the reply is just "Users flagged it". I didn't flag it, so I have to guess. The title promise more than what the post deliver. It looks like an interesting idea, but it would be better if each Pokemon was more similar to the flag of the country or to a common estereotipe of the country. Most look pokemonky, but too generic. It's difficult to look at one and guess the country. Edit: Typos
      - montebicyclelo 4y ago
        Thank you, that's useful feedback (although clearly some people are less critical of the current results than others, I agree the results are worth improving, and your idea of being able to guess a country from the picture alone is a good one). Have emailed Dang.
- joshxyz 4y ago
  Dang algorithm god damn hn yall hilarious.

metadat 4y ago

It's kind of a stupid and shallow article, so probably people flagged it. Or Dang / the @Dang Algorithm de-ranked it. Whenever an article doesn't meet HN's [boring] guidelines [0], some of the account holders aggressively flag it. This is a good thing on average, because otherwise HN would be shitty in all the same ways as Reddit. At least this way, ze haq0rnewz gets to be shitty in a different way: due to lack of gossip and adolescent humor. The same thing happened to a submission of mine just yesterday with the Beyond Meat Facebiting COO [1]. They don't always get publicly marked as "flagged", though. Sometimes they just drop way far back from FP. In the end, what does it matter? No one person should control what appears on the front page or not, and HN points are truly one of the most worthless forms of currency I can think of. Be grateful some people enjoyed it before it got murdered! I'm sure you made their day a bit brighter. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32905810 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32905810

montebicyclelo 4y ago
Thanks for the insight... Although not sure "stupid and shallow" is fair; expecially considering the enthusiastic reception the post got, and the fact that it showcases Stable Diffusion's capabilities (which are only going to get better) and a creative idea that it can be used for. I'd be interested to know whether it was flagging, or moderation.
- metadat 4y ago
  > Although not sure "stupid and shallow" is fair Just being honest with my best guess, a lot of people around here are even grumpier and more rigid than me. I feel you, it is sometimes disappointing. If you're really curious on how your submission's fate was sealed, I suggest emailing le Dang (hn@ycombinator.com). He's extremely polite and quite pleasant, and has always been generous in answering my questions. One tip: always search https://hn.algolia.com https://hn.algolia.com first. Frequently he just pastes a link to there, because he's answered the question so many times previously.
  - gus_massa 4y ago
    I second the idea of emailing dang. Most of the time the reply is just "Users flagged it". I didn't flag it, so I have to guess. The title promise more than what the post deliver. It looks like an interesting idea, but it would be better if each Pokemon was more similar to the flag of the country or to a common estereotipe of the country. Most look pokemonky, but too generic. It's difficult to look at one and guess the country. Edit: Typos
    - montebicyclelo 4y ago
      Thank you, that's useful feedback (although clearly some people are less critical of the current results than others, I agree the results are worth improving, and your idea of being able to guess a country from the picture alone is a good one). Have emailed Dang.
joshxyz 4y ago
Dang algorithm god damn hn yall hilarious.