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Just saw this posted here yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5395009 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5395009 Interestingly, I fell for the se
by amadeuspzs 14y ago
Just saw this posted here yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5395009 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5395009
Interestingly, I fell for the sensationalist headline of the Register instead of clicking the original HN link entitled "Port scanning /0 using insecure embedded devices" (which I saw and ignored).
I wonder if it will be same here on HN!
- jrajav 14y agoI did the same. Network programming and embedded devices are both not my forte, but this headline grabbed me. Can't take back my upvote now!
- amadeuspzs 14y agoI think it raises an interesting point: how many interesting links get overlooked because of poor titles? And how many titles are more interesting than the links? Coming from a technical/academic background, good copy is not something that is emphasised - are we missing a trick?
- napoleond 14y agoYes. For an excellent introduction to writing copy, I highly recommend everything on www.copyhackers.com
- mkr-hn 14y agoI've been looking for a good copywriting blog to replace Copyblogger after it started hard selling questionable widgets.
- Total_Meltdown 14y agoWell when you think about it pragmatically, I don't have the time - and I'm sure you don't either - to look at every single intellectually stimulating title on the internet. And frankly, when I'm browsing HN, I'm not exactly looking for the epitome of academic integrity. I'm looking for things that I'm interested in, and that I care about. And frankly, portscanning /0 is not something that I care about very often. Researchers setting up illegal botnets are. Copy matters.
- Maxious 14y agoDon't worry, even if you pick a good title a HN mod will come and change it to whatever they fancy.
- wmf 14y agoA specific problem I see a lot on HN is blog post titles that do not make sense out of context. Titles like "Thoughts on music" or "An update on performance" might make sense if I'm reading on your site, but it gives no incentive to click through in the first place. This problem is exacerbated by HN's recent zero tolerance policy for headline changes.
- derefr 14y agoI think I'm going to write up a nice study of comparative multitenant app-mesh queuing performance or something--and then, just for HN, I'll set the actual blog post title to: > This Is A Bad Title With No Relevance; If You Revert To It You're A Bad Editor And You Should Feel Bad ...and then give the link a more sensible (but slightly editorializing) title when I submit it to HN, and see what happens. :)
- ISL 14y agoTitles matter. The exponential suppression of new articles is deliberately harsh. The first few early upvotes are critical. Getting them early and often requires either the right hook or a voting ring. Copy matters in the real world too.
- DanBC 14y agoIn general articles from The Register are i) awful, ii) given link-bait headlines, and iii) available elsewhere. The HN guideline about linking to the original source would be lovely if it meant people stopped linking to the Reg.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- pc86 14y agoWait, why did you upvote an article without reading it or the comments?
- surement 14y agoProbably to save the article for later reading.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]