3 ms·
I think we should do something about the bait-y titles on HN in general. Titles should be descriptive and succinct. Sometimes the same story is posted multiple
by davidmathers 17y ago
I think we should do something about the bait-y titles on HN in general. Titles should be descriptive and succinct.
Sometimes the same story is posted multiple times. One post will have a bait-y title and the other will have a boringly accurate and truthful title. Of those two, one of them always disappears with 3 or 4 votes and the other climbs the front page charts. Exhibit A:
A Comparison of Approaches to Large-Scale Data Analysis: MapReduce vs. DBMS
vs.
Parallel DBMSs faster than MapReduce
Then there are the science articles with accurate titles and hypetastic titles. Exhibit B:
Long-Distance Teleportation Between Two Atoms Achieved
vs.
Scientist Teleport Matter More Than Three Feet
So, it's not like the descriptive titles aren't already there waiting to be promoted, it's just that hyperbole always wins in the marketplace of up-arrow clicks.