3 ms·

The operative word there is "primarily". Simon comments on a variety of topics and has far more interactions that don't link to his blog than do. Simon's posts

The operative word there is "primarily". Simon comments on a variety of topics and has far more interactions that don't link to his blog than do. Simon's posts are not engagement farming by any definition of the term. He posts good content frequently which is then upvoted by the Hacker News community, which should be the ideal for a Hacker News contributor.

rvz 10mo ago
Except that the "content" that reaches the top is always about AI / LLMs and nothing else and it is "all the time". Any opportunity to comment, he will link back to his own blog. He even reposted the same link (which is about AI) with one of his posts when the upvotes fell off and until the second one reached the top, with the intention of promoting his own blog. Let me simply prove my point to you on how predictable this spam is. He will do a blog post this month about this paper [0] with an expert analysis by either someone else (or even an LLM) with the primary intention of the blog being used for self promotion with at least one link back to his own blog. > ...which is then upvoted by the Hacker News community You don't know that. But what we do know is that even the moderators now have "favourites". Anyone else would be shot down for promotional spam. [0] https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24880 https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24880
- simonw 10mo ago
  "He even reposted the same link (which is about AI) with one of his posts when the upvotes fell off" Where did I do that? > He will do a blog post this month about this paper [0] That paper you linked to is a perfect example of where my approach can add value! Did you read it? Do you understand what it saying? It is dense. I would love to read an evaluation of that paper by someone who can rephrase the core ideas and conversations into a couple of paragraphs that help me understand it, and help me figure out if I should invest further effort in learning more. I have a whole tag on my blog for that kind of content called paper-review: https://simonwillison.net/tags/paper-review/ https://simonwillison.net/tags/paper-review/ - it's my version of the TikTok meme "I read X so you don't have to". Honestly, your problem doesn't seem to be with me so much as it seems to be with the concept of blogging in general.
  - th0ma5 10mo ago
    [flagged]
    - deleted 10mo ago
      [deleted]
    - simonw 10mo ago
      I had to paste that into a separate browser window (jwz blocks Hacker News referral traffic) and I cannot figure out how that story is relevant to this conversation. Did you share the right link?
    - dang 10mo ago
      You've posted over 40 replies hounding this one user whom you seem to be fixated on. We've already asked you to stop (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44726957 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44726957) but you've continued: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46409736 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46409736 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46395646 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46395646 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46209386 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46209386 This is obviously an abuse of HN, regardless of who you're being aggressive towards. We ban accounts that keep doing this. If you keep doing it, we will ban you, so no more of this please.

rvz 10mo ago

Except that the "content" that reaches the top is always about AI / LLMs and nothing else and it is "all the time". Any opportunity to comment, he will link back to his own blog. He even reposted the same link (which is about AI) with one of his posts when the upvotes fell off and until the second one reached the top, with the intention of promoting his own blog. Let me simply prove my point to you on how predictable this spam is. He will do a blog post this month about this paper [0] with an expert analysis by either someone else (or even an LLM) with the primary intention of the blog being used for self promotion with at least one link back to his own blog. > ...which is then upvoted by the Hacker News community You don't know that. But what we do know is that even the moderators now have "favourites". Anyone else would be shot down for promotional spam. [0] https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24880 https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24880

simonw 10mo ago
"He even reposted the same link (which is about AI) with one of his posts when the upvotes fell off" Where did I do that? > He will do a blog post this month about this paper [0] That paper you linked to is a perfect example of where my approach can add value! Did you read it? Do you understand what it saying? It is dense. I would love to read an evaluation of that paper by someone who can rephrase the core ideas and conversations into a couple of paragraphs that help me understand it, and help me figure out if I should invest further effort in learning more. I have a whole tag on my blog for that kind of content called paper-review: https://simonwillison.net/tags/paper-review/ https://simonwillison.net/tags/paper-review/ - it's my version of the TikTok meme "I read X so you don't have to". Honestly, your problem doesn't seem to be with me so much as it seems to be with the concept of blogging in general.
- th0ma5 10mo ago
  [flagged]
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]
  - simonw 10mo ago
    I had to paste that into a separate browser window (jwz blocks Hacker News referral traffic) and I cannot figure out how that story is relevant to this conversation. Did you share the right link?
  - dang 10mo ago
    You've posted over 40 replies hounding this one user whom you seem to be fixated on. We've already asked you to stop (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44726957 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44726957) but you've continued: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46409736 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46409736 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46395646 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46395646 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46209386 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46209386 This is obviously an abuse of HN, regardless of who you're being aggressive towards. We ban accounts that keep doing this. If you keep doing it, we will ban you, so no more of this please.