3 ms·

It’s terrible title.

dredmorbius 4y ago
Note that it's been edited from the original submission, at my request, which was simply "How the fuck did we get here". I'd suggested the subtitle alone ("A small rant..."), which is at least fucking descriptive. According to Algolia, at this writing, the words "how did we get here" appear in HN submissions (net of flags and edits) 363 times. That's exceeded by the even more tiresome "this changes everything" (571 results). Both should be hellbanned IMO. I'm having an email exchange with dang over this presently. <https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=how%20did%20we%20get%20here&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...> <https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=this%20changes%20everything&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...>
- jonny_eh 4y ago
  You're doing the Lord's work, carry on!
  - dredmorbius 4y ago
    What I wan to know is ... how the fuck did we get here? Your encouragement, however, changes everything! ;-)
- fagnerbrack 4y ago
  WOW I never tought about this being used as clickbait. The title was honestly out of frustration after spending 3 hours to update a dependency.
  - dredmorbius 4y ago
    Context has something to do with it, though the title's a poor one regardless IMO. On your own blog, to readers familiar with your topics and post history, "how the fuck did we get here" might be an acceptable / excusable title, though even there, I'd argue that it's a rather poor pick. It's a bit like dropping a URL or video link with the comment "lol" on an HN or Metaverse thread, say. There's not much to go on. Even pretty good bloggers often have ... depressingly unilluminating titles. Brad DeLong, for example, leans very heavily on "Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps" (you'll find a few examples perusing <https://braddelong.substack.com/archive?sort=new https://braddelong.substack.com/archive?sort=new>). Several people on the Fediverse post frequent themed items, with a repetitive title leading the description, e.g., "Plucked from the archives <description>". My suggestion is to invert that order, have the description first, and probably hashtag the topic as, say, #FromTheArchives. (I do something similar with "#OccasionalEtymology" and "#DredsDictionary", see: - <https://toot.cat/@dredmorbius/tagged/OccasionalEtymology https://toot.cat/@dredmorbius/tagged/OccasionalEtymology> - <https://toot.cat/@dredmorbius/tagged/DredsDictionary https://toot.cat/@dredmorbius/tagged/DredsDictionary> There's a reason why article authoring and headline writing are often distinct roles at traditional serial publications. What it takes to write copy and to sell it (via the headline) really are separate skills. Nielsen's microcontent guidelines: "Microcontent: A Few Small Words Have a Mega Impact on Business" <https://www.nngroup.com/articles/microcontent-how-to-write-headlines-page-titles-and-subject-lines/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/microcontent-how-to-write-h...> (2017) (Based on a 1998 original.)
    - fagnerbrack 4y ago
      I do have lack of skills on creating headlines indeed, thanks for the effort of illuminating with a few sources. Really appreciate the time!
      - dredmorbius 4y ago
        My pleasure!

Note that it's been edited from the original submission, at my request, which was simply "How the fuck did we get here". I'd suggested the subtitle alone ("A small rant..."), which is at least fucking descriptive. According to Algolia, at this writing, the words "how did we get here" appear in HN submissions (net of flags and edits) 363 times. That's exceeded by the even more tiresome "this changes everything" (571 results). Both should be hellbanned IMO. I'm having an email exchange with dang over this presently. <https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=how%20did%20we%20get%20here&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...> <https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=this%20changes%20everything&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...>

jonny_eh 4y ago
You're doing the Lord's work, carry on!
- dredmorbius 4y ago
  What I wan to know is ... how the fuck did we get here? Your encouragement, however, changes everything! ;-)
fagnerbrack 4y ago
WOW I never tought about this being used as clickbait. The title was honestly out of frustration after spending 3 hours to update a dependency.
- dredmorbius 4y ago
  Context has something to do with it, though the title's a poor one regardless IMO. On your own blog, to readers familiar with your topics and post history, "how the fuck did we get here" might be an acceptable / excusable title, though even there, I'd argue that it's a rather poor pick. It's a bit like dropping a URL or video link with the comment "lol" on an HN or Metaverse thread, say. There's not much to go on. Even pretty good bloggers often have ... depressingly unilluminating titles. Brad DeLong, for example, leans very heavily on "Why Oh Why Can't We Have a Better Press Corps" (you'll find a few examples perusing <https://braddelong.substack.com/archive?sort=new https://braddelong.substack.com/archive?sort=new>). Several people on the Fediverse post frequent themed items, with a repetitive title leading the description, e.g., "Plucked from the archives <description>". My suggestion is to invert that order, have the description first, and probably hashtag the topic as, say, #FromTheArchives. (I do something similar with "#OccasionalEtymology" and "#DredsDictionary", see: - <https://toot.cat/@dredmorbius/tagged/OccasionalEtymology https://toot.cat/@dredmorbius/tagged/OccasionalEtymology> - <https://toot.cat/@dredmorbius/tagged/DredsDictionary https://toot.cat/@dredmorbius/tagged/DredsDictionary> There's a reason why article authoring and headline writing are often distinct roles at traditional serial publications. What it takes to write copy and to sell it (via the headline) really are separate skills. Nielsen's microcontent guidelines: "Microcontent: A Few Small Words Have a Mega Impact on Business" <https://www.nngroup.com/articles/microcontent-how-to-write-headlines-page-titles-and-subject-lines/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/microcontent-how-to-write-h...> (2017) (Based on a 1998 original.)
  - fagnerbrack 4y ago
    I do have lack of skills on creating headlines indeed, thanks for the effort of illuminating with a few sources. Really appreciate the time!
    - dredmorbius 4y ago
      My pleasure!