I think HN is manipulated but in a way you're not quite insinuating. There are a few hundred YC start-ups now, and they're like a gang. They've got each other's

I think HN is manipulated but in a way you're not quite insinuating. There are a few hundred YC start-ups now, and they're like a gang. They've got each other's back. When somebody wants something linked to they can count on the private YC mailing lists, requests to personal contacts, and followers' reciprocity with twitter,linkedin, and facebook. I've seen exactly this happen at a couple of YC companies when trying to get their postings about their job postings voted to the top. I've participated in it.