4 ms·

I must be missing something. This sounds like a press release, plus an apology for unspecified problems HN has had, with a site none of the commenters have hear

I must be missing something. This sounds like a press release, plus an apology for unspecified problems HN has had, with a site none of the commenters have heard of. It's certainly great to hear about a site having higher quality posts. But I'd rather hear about that when someone says "Hey! Check out this high-quality post!" rather than hearing someone announce that in the future, there will be good posts. Show, don't tell.

zeedotme 17y ago
wow, really - a press release? I've been thinking about writing it for a while but have never planned or prepared anything for it. I wrote this in about 10 minutes without any pre-written notes. About why some of the commenters haven't heard of us, I can't really speak for them - but we're the biggest tech blog in Europe now (based on number of visitors) and growing fast Regarding the "hey check out this quality post", that thought crossed my mind but frankly I thought it might appear spam like so decided not to. ps.Did you know we follow each other on Twitter (http://twitter.com/zee http://twitter.com/zee)? I'm pretty sure you've heard of us because about 50% of my shares are from TheNextWeb
- jsdalton 17y ago
  It didn't read at all like a press release, by the way.
- byrneseyeview 17y ago
  A press release would be a good way to get this across to a different audience -- advertisers and competitors, mostly. (Actually, the company I'm with does some PR work; email address is in the profile). Just imagine reading a post like this from, say, the reddit guys. They might say "In the coming days, you'll see fewer Lolcats and conspiracy theories, and more thoughtful essays and insightful humor." But there isn't a clear path from here to there, and once we're there, we'll know about it -- so you're announcing something that either a) will happen, and won't need to be announced, or b) won't happen, making the announcement dishonest.
- mnemonicsloth 17y ago
  The problem isn't that your post is too glib. The problem is that: 1. Most of us have never heard of you before. 2. Nevertheless, you have somehow managed to appear at the top of the front page, 3. ...apologizing for a conflict that none of us can remember and that I can't find with Google. 4. Taking 1+2+3 together, you look (at best) like you're taking yourself too seriously, and at worst like a manipulative spammer. Please don't take this as an indication of hostility. If your intentions were legitimate, I wish you the best of luck in raising the quality of your site.
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  - zeedotme 17y ago
    I'm not sure how to react to that to be frank... I'll try though. 1. I introduced myself, and have been active for a while but an (RSS)subscrber for a long while. 2. I wasn't expecting the post to get to the front page. At best, I thought it might receive a few points and a few people might comment and appreciate the effort I'd made. 3. I didn't really apologise. I just wanted to start afresh, and hope that you guys would consider reviewing our content to potentially share on HN in the future. Also, there wasn't a conflict, but there have been comments that have said stuff along the lines of "I've never enjoyed TheNextWeb" and some other slightly harsher stuff. 4. Maybe I am taking myself or ourselves too seriously, I don't really know. I do know I'm not a spammer though and genuinely just wanted to do something which I'd been thinking about for a while...I also figured it was rather personal & bold, in the sense that very few other tech sites/bloggers would consider doing it. And hey, I admit it did feel a little hostile at first, but thanks for updating your comment with that last line.
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jasonlbaptiste 17y ago
It doesn't sound like a press release really. The site has been banned, so it's not like he has any other way to make a post. I respect what he's trying to do, as most other sites would not come and try to apologize for any past wrong doings. They probably wouldn't give a shit. Maybe this message should have been personally addressed to PG as he decides the ban list, but I don't know PG's preferences.
- zeedotme 17y ago
  Hey there Jason, i don't think we were banned - unless i'm wrong? Is there a list somewhere?
  - byrneseyeview 17y ago
    There's an out-of-date list here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=499044 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=499044 And you're on it. I'd email PG.
    - zeedotme 17y ago
      cheers, emailing now
    - zeedotme 17y ago
      All sorted now! :)

zeedotme 17y ago

wow, really - a press release? I've been thinking about writing it for a while but have never planned or prepared anything for it. I wrote this in about 10 minutes without any pre-written notes. About why some of the commenters haven't heard of us, I can't really speak for them - but we're the biggest tech blog in Europe now (based on number of visitors) and growing fast Regarding the "hey check out this quality post", that thought crossed my mind but frankly I thought it might appear spam like so decided not to. ps.Did you know we follow each other on Twitter (http://twitter.com/zee http://twitter.com/zee)? I'm pretty sure you've heard of us because about 50% of my shares are from TheNextWeb

jsdalton 17y ago
It didn't read at all like a press release, by the way.
byrneseyeview 17y ago
A press release would be a good way to get this across to a different audience -- advertisers and competitors, mostly. (Actually, the company I'm with does some PR work; email address is in the profile). Just imagine reading a post like this from, say, the reddit guys. They might say "In the coming days, you'll see fewer Lolcats and conspiracy theories, and more thoughtful essays and insightful humor." But there isn't a clear path from here to there, and once we're there, we'll know about it -- so you're announcing something that either a) will happen, and won't need to be announced, or b) won't happen, making the announcement dishonest.
mnemonicsloth 17y ago
The problem isn't that your post is too glib. The problem is that: 1. Most of us have never heard of you before. 2. Nevertheless, you have somehow managed to appear at the top of the front page, 3. ...apologizing for a conflict that none of us can remember and that I can't find with Google. 4. Taking 1+2+3 together, you look (at best) like you're taking yourself too seriously, and at worst like a manipulative spammer. Please don't take this as an indication of hostility. If your intentions were legitimate, I wish you the best of luck in raising the quality of your site.
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- zeedotme 17y ago
  I'm not sure how to react to that to be frank... I'll try though. 1. I introduced myself, and have been active for a while but an (RSS)subscrber for a long while. 2. I wasn't expecting the post to get to the front page. At best, I thought it might receive a few points and a few people might comment and appreciate the effort I'd made. 3. I didn't really apologise. I just wanted to start afresh, and hope that you guys would consider reviewing our content to potentially share on HN in the future. Also, there wasn't a conflict, but there have been comments that have said stuff along the lines of "I've never enjoyed TheNextWeb" and some other slightly harsher stuff. 4. Maybe I am taking myself or ourselves too seriously, I don't really know. I do know I'm not a spammer though and genuinely just wanted to do something which I'd been thinking about for a while...I also figured it was rather personal & bold, in the sense that very few other tech sites/bloggers would consider doing it. And hey, I admit it did feel a little hostile at first, but thanks for updating your comment with that last line.
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jasonlbaptiste 17y ago

It doesn't sound like a press release really. The site has been banned, so it's not like he has any other way to make a post. I respect what he's trying to do, as most other sites would not come and try to apologize for any past wrong doings. They probably wouldn't give a shit. Maybe this message should have been personally addressed to PG as he decides the ban list, but I don't know PG's preferences.

zeedotme 17y ago
Hey there Jason, i don't think we were banned - unless i'm wrong? Is there a list somewhere?
- byrneseyeview 17y ago
  There's an out-of-date list here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=499044 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=499044 And you're on it. I'd email PG.
  - zeedotme 17y ago
    cheers, emailing now
  - zeedotme 17y ago
    All sorted now! :)