3 ms·

Completely off topic but sometimes on HN I don't understand how stuff lands on the front page. At the time of this writing, this post has 3 points and 0 comment

Completely off topic but sometimes on HN I don't understand how stuff lands on the front page. At the time of this writing, this post has 3 points and 0 comments, yet it is placed nr #3 on the "front page" list. I get the feeling that certain topics about certain technologies often get at the front page even if there is other threads that have more points and activity that isn't shown on the front page. Why is that?

comcuoglu 3y ago
At the time of me writing this comment it had 9 points after 8 minutes. I guess the ratio of points/time_since_posted is more important than the absolute points.
- ecmascript 3y ago
  Sure but as I was writing, it seems like many other stories has more activity in a shorter amount of time but maybe I'm wrong.
eajakobsen 3y ago
From the FAQ: > How are stories ranked? > The basic algorithm divides points by a power of the time since a story was submitted. Comments in threads are ranked the same way. > Other factors affecting rank include user flags, anti-abuse software, software which demotes overheated discussions, account or site weighting, and moderator action. So if a story gets points very quickly, it will appear on the front page. If it don't keep getting points it will disappear.
arrowsmith 3y ago
Elixir-related stories hit the front page of HN several times per week. It seems to be a topic that the HN audience likes to upvote.
strzibny 3y ago
Moderators sometimes put something on the homepage. HN is a little bit curated, it's not just upvotes.
AlchemistCamp 3y ago
It’s probably the same force that drove Phoenix to be at the top of this year’s Stack Overflow Developer Survey of “Most Admired Web Frameworks”: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2023/#section-admired-and-desired-web-frameworks-and-technologies https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2023/#section-admired-and-de...
sph 3y ago
Don't quote me on that but it's pretty crude: if it receives N upvotes in a short amount of time, it's promoted to the frontpage quite quickly. If it takes two hours to get the same number of upvotes, it probably gets lost in the neverending ocean of /new. So it's basically a game of pure chance, a topic that's not too niche, a topic that one upvotes without even reading, and/or good clickbait technique. HN's algo optimises for popularity, rather than meaty content.
nickjj 3y ago
Fly.io is involved with YCombinator at https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fly-io https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fly-io. One of the core contributors of Phoenix also works there and Fly.io tends to tie in with Elixir as a language. I'm just speculating here but I think a number of posts are curated to land on the home page when you're directly or indirectly related to YCombinator funded companies.
- sph 3y ago
  I'm pretty sure time and time again dang has confirmed they don't promote any post coming from a YC-affiliated company, and in case of Elixir, its just one dev at one YC company. A tenuous connection. I explained what is probably going on in a sibling comment. Less of a conspiracy, and more about a handful of people seeing the hyped language du jour in the title and upvoting it in a matter of minutes.
  - brandall10 3y ago
    "just one dev" Chris McCord is the creator of Phoenix and this is a post about Phoenix functionality. What you say is likely correct but that's a strong tie.
  - ecmascript 3y ago
    > I'm pretty sure time and time again dang has confirmed they don't promote any post coming from a YC-affiliated company Probably the right thing to do ethically if you want to run a forum but at the same time it would be bad business. I'm not saying that this occurred here and I don't really care either but I wouldn't exactly trust a company on their word on something they can benefit financially from.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

comcuoglu 3y ago

At the time of me writing this comment it had 9 points after 8 minutes. I guess the ratio of points/time_since_posted is more important than the absolute points.

ecmascript 3y ago
Sure but as I was writing, it seems like many other stories has more activity in a shorter amount of time but maybe I'm wrong.

eajakobsen 3y ago

From the FAQ: > How are stories ranked? > The basic algorithm divides points by a power of the time since a story was submitted. Comments in threads are ranked the same way. > Other factors affecting rank include user flags, anti-abuse software, software which demotes overheated discussions, account or site weighting, and moderator action. So if a story gets points very quickly, it will appear on the front page. If it don't keep getting points it will disappear.

arrowsmith 3y ago

Elixir-related stories hit the front page of HN several times per week. It seems to be a topic that the HN audience likes to upvote.

strzibny 3y ago

Moderators sometimes put something on the homepage. HN is a little bit curated, it's not just upvotes.

AlchemistCamp 3y ago

It’s probably the same force that drove Phoenix to be at the top of this year’s Stack Overflow Developer Survey of “Most Admired Web Frameworks”: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2023/#section-admired-and-desired-web-frameworks-and-technologies https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2023/#section-admired-and-de...

sph 3y ago

Don't quote me on that but it's pretty crude: if it receives N upvotes in a short amount of time, it's promoted to the frontpage quite quickly. If it takes two hours to get the same number of upvotes, it probably gets lost in the neverending ocean of /new. So it's basically a game of pure chance, a topic that's not too niche, a topic that one upvotes without even reading, and/or good clickbait technique. HN's algo optimises for popularity, rather than meaty content.

nickjj 3y ago

Fly.io is involved with YCombinator at https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fly-io https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/fly-io. One of the core contributors of Phoenix also works there and Fly.io tends to tie in with Elixir as a language. I'm just speculating here but I think a number of posts are curated to land on the home page when you're directly or indirectly related to YCombinator funded companies.

sph 3y ago
I'm pretty sure time and time again dang has confirmed they don't promote any post coming from a YC-affiliated company, and in case of Elixir, its just one dev at one YC company. A tenuous connection. I explained what is probably going on in a sibling comment. Less of a conspiracy, and more about a handful of people seeing the hyped language du jour in the title and upvoting it in a matter of minutes.
- brandall10 3y ago
  "just one dev" Chris McCord is the creator of Phoenix and this is a post about Phoenix functionality. What you say is likely correct but that's a strong tie.
- ecmascript 3y ago
  > I'm pretty sure time and time again dang has confirmed they don't promote any post coming from a YC-affiliated company Probably the right thing to do ethically if you want to run a forum but at the same time it would be bad business. I'm not saying that this occurred here and I don't really care either but I wouldn't exactly trust a company on their word on something they can benefit financially from.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]