3 ms·

This title is link bait

15 points by llambda 15y ago

malandrew 15y ago
I'm 100% in favor of the content of this article, BUT the argument should only apply to the title of the post of the article on the author's own blog. A blog post author has two audiences, himself and his readers, thus his obligation is to himself and his readers. He should try to get as many eyeballs for himself and try to entertain his readers as much as possible. Hacker News has one audience, the community of hackers reading HN, thus the obligation of someone posting a link on HN is to their fellow HNers. The submitter of a link should give it a title that maximizes the utility for other Hacker News members. Karma doesn't exist for the benefit of individuals, it was instituted as an effort to promote good behavior that benefits the community. The title of the link on posted on HN should be written with the goal of providing the most utility possible to other Hackers and does not need to be the same as the post title, and in fact should be different if it can be improved to help other HNers better decide if it is a link that may interest them. When a post author submits a link on HN, they have a responsibility to the larger community first and foremost, and to themselves as the author of the blog post in a far second. It's acceptable for an author to give his post a link-bait title. It's unacceptable for a fellow HNer to give his submission a link bait title, because doing so benefits the blog post author at the expense of the HN community. When the person submitting a link is deciding what title to use for a link submission to their own article, they should determine that title based on their role/identity as a member of the HN community. To do otherwise is disrespectful. Remember: A group is its own worst enemy. http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html
- raganwald 15y ago
  I agree. It is the submitter's responsibility, which is why the article addresses the blog author and explicitly tells HNers to use the site's existing tools: flags, votes, and the ability to edit the title to be appropriate for HN.
  - malandrew 15y ago
    Yup. The only thing that wasn't clear is that when there is a conflict of interest, such as when the submitter is also the author, that one should look out for the commons first.

15 points by llambda 15y ago

I'm 100% in favor of the content of this article, BUT the argument should only apply to the title of the post of the article on the author's own blog. A blog post author has two audiences, himself and his readers, thus his obligation is to himself and his readers. He should try to get as many eyeballs for himself and try to entertain his readers as much as possible. Hacker News has one audience, the community of hackers reading HN, thus the obligation of someone posting a link on HN is to their fellow HNers. The submitter of a link should give it a title that maximizes the utility for other Hacker News members. Karma doesn't exist for the benefit of individuals, it was instituted as an effort to promote good behavior that benefits the community. The title of the link on posted on HN should be written with the goal of providing the most utility possible to other Hackers and does not need to be the same as the post title, and in fact should be different if it can be improved to help other HNers better decide if it is a link that may interest them. When a post author submits a link on HN, they have a responsibility to the larger community first and foremost, and to themselves as the author of the blog post in a far second. It's acceptable for an author to give his post a link-bait title. It's unacceptable for a fellow HNer to give his submission a link bait title, because doing so benefits the blog post author at the expense of the HN community. When the person submitting a link is deciding what title to use for a link submission to their own article, they should determine that title based on their role/identity as a member of the HN community. To do otherwise is disrespectful. Remember: A group is its own worst enemy. http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html http://www.shirky.com/writings/group_enemy.html

raganwald 15y ago
I agree. It is the submitter's responsibility, which is why the article addresses the blog author and explicitly tells HNers to use the site's existing tools: flags, votes, and the ability to edit the title to be appropriate for HN.
- malandrew 15y ago
  Yup. The only thing that wasn't clear is that when there is a conflict of interest, such as when the submitter is also the author, that one should look out for the commons first.