4 ms·

I wonder what the optimal time is to post to HN. Do people usually wake up, check HN and then go about their day? If so, around 9-10:30AM EST? Or maybe if most

I wonder what the optimal time is to post to HN. Do people usually wake up, check HN and then go about their day? If so, around 9-10:30AM EST? Or maybe if most HNers come from the west coast, would it be 9 - 10:30AM PST?

mkr-hn 14y ago
It's dangerous to go alone. Take this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3991859 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3991859
petercooper 14y ago
Once you hit the front page, the time is quite relevant. But before then.. /newest is so poorly visited and read that you're really throwing yourself into the hands of lady luck and hoping there are more than a handful of people who even see your item. (Yep, tons of good stuff doesn't get voted up at all simply because no-one sees it.)
phillco 14y ago
Yes, but, competition is fiercer. The beginning of a business day in the US is also the time when a lot of strong, interesting articles (from newspapers, blogs, etc) are being read by awakening HN'ers and then submitted. They can crowd out your post. But if you succeed, you'll enjoy strong inertia for a long time as people keep coming back when they should be working. Like right now :) [I think; subjective analysis etc etc]
brudgers 14y ago
>"the optimal time is to post to HN." When you have good content and your luck is at its maximum.
- mkr-hn 14y ago
  Luck is something that happens to people who seek it out. I get better results when I post at the times all these analytical tools say is best.
  - marshray 14y ago
    I've been chatting on HN and posting links for a year or two now, but I still haven't figured out what I gain by a higher karma. Sure, it's a tiny treat to see your link get popular or your number get a bit higher. But am I missing something?
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - mkr-hn 14y ago
      It's not about karma. It's about making sure things I think are worth seeing are seen.
      - marshray 14y ago
        That makes sense. That I didn't think about that way immediately probably says that you have a much closer relationship with the HN readership than I do. :-)
zemo 14y ago
they didn't include HN in their writeup, but the bitly folks had a blog post about this topic pretty recently. They looked at posting times for Twitter, FB, and Tumblr. http://blog.bitly.com/post/22663850994/time-is-on-your-side http://blog.bitly.com/post/22663850994/time-is-on-your-side

mkr-hn 14y ago

It's dangerous to go alone. Take this: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3991859 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3991859

petercooper 14y ago

Once you hit the front page, the time is quite relevant. But before then.. /newest is so poorly visited and read that you're really throwing yourself into the hands of lady luck and hoping there are more than a handful of people who even see your item. (Yep, tons of good stuff doesn't get voted up at all simply because no-one sees it.)

phillco 14y ago

Yes, but, competition is fiercer. The beginning of a business day in the US is also the time when a lot of strong, interesting articles (from newspapers, blogs, etc) are being read by awakening HN'ers and then submitted. They can crowd out your post. But if you succeed, you'll enjoy strong inertia for a long time as people keep coming back when they should be working. Like right now :) [I think; subjective analysis etc etc]

brudgers 14y ago

>"the optimal time is to post to HN." When you have good content and your luck is at its maximum.

mkr-hn 14y ago
Luck is something that happens to people who seek it out. I get better results when I post at the times all these analytical tools say is best.
- marshray 14y ago
  I've been chatting on HN and posting links for a year or two now, but I still haven't figured out what I gain by a higher karma. Sure, it's a tiny treat to see your link get popular or your number get a bit higher. But am I missing something?
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - mkr-hn 14y ago
    It's not about karma. It's about making sure things I think are worth seeing are seen.
    - marshray 14y ago
      That makes sense. That I didn't think about that way immediately probably says that you have a much closer relationship with the HN readership than I do. :-)

zemo 14y ago

they didn't include HN in their writeup, but the bitly folks had a blog post about this topic pretty recently. They looked at posting times for Twitter, FB, and Tumblr. http://blog.bitly.com/post/22663850994/time-is-on-your-side http://blog.bitly.com/post/22663850994/time-is-on-your-side