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Ask HN: why are my 'show HN' posts ignored every single time?
I've been working hard on a really cool Google Analytics app (http://apps.microsoft.com/windows/app/googalytics/34a0d886-d541-4362-80b6-62f61733f0a9) for Windows 8 and I'm really proud of it. It's ranked as #1 top paid Business app in the Windows Store, and it received some nice press coverage. WPCentral posted about it for example: http://www.wpcentral.com/googalytics-windows-8-simple-way-access-your-analytic-data. We also got Google to retweet it: https://twitter.com/googleanalytics/status/390141635826159616.
I posted it here on HN multiple times, but it just keeps being ignored by everyone, and floating off the 'new' page. Meanwhile, people who built something far more simple and/or spent less time on it keep reaching the frontpage with their 'show HN' posts. I know most people here run Apple, but isn't it fair to just appreciate the effort someone else put in his project even though you won't/can't use it? I always vote up 'shown HN' posts when I see someone has built something nice, even though it's for a different platform, or I'm simply not interested in their product.
- petervandijck 13y agoDon't worry, mine are too ;)
- chewxy 13y agoThe HN audience values hack values[0]. Often things are done for the sake of novelty. Show HNs that reach the front page often demonstrate hack values or novelty or utility to the audience. You know, the "it's cool!" or "that's a great hack" feeling when you see it. I've actually seen your app (and your submissions). It feels a bit run-of the mill. It's honestly just...is. There is no further narrative (well, you did mention that you had no decent option so you built your own). There is no further elaboration of the hacker spirit that many on HN seem to cherish. Hack values can be signaled in the title of your submission. Your titles seem a bit weak, tbh. I can't tell what clever hacks were made (with the one exception where you said you didn't have better options) If you don't want to signal hack values, signal utility to the HN audience, and people will respond. Of course the proportion of HN audience that uses WP8 as a platform is probably very small. Out of that small group, the utility brought about by your Show HN is not necessarily shared by everyone. It's probably shared by only a tiny proportion of that small group. Combined with the European time zone that you're in, your chances of reaching the front page is quite small just my 2cents Footnotes: [0] Ouch. My head hurts parsing that sentence
- Avalaxy 13y agoThanks for your feedback!
- noodle 13y agoI'd simplify it further. HN likes things that are new, interesting and novel. Not even necessarily things that encompass "hack values". You could submit a Show post that has an excellent idea that would make you rich, but it would get ignored and passed over if it were a B2B app written in Java for a niche market.
- rhizome 13y agoThere is no "why," it's just the way it is.
- jpatte 13y agoWorst. Answer. Ever.
- throwmeaway2525 13y agoWell you made it to the top of "Ask" this time. Congrats. ;) Looks nice and clean. Good luck!
- brudgers 13y agoThis may be a case where a good story told in your blog would create more interest. What was done to achieve success is more interesting than status as the number one paid business app for Windows Phone among all companies with their headquarters east of the Mississippi River and a founder whose first name contains two or more vowels...so to.speak. Entertain us.
- dully 13y agoWell..the same thing happened to my app one time. It only got like 4 up votes or something but somehow a TechCrunch writer saw it and decided to write a post about it.
- Terpaholic 13y agoA lot of show HN's seem to slide quickly without getting the critical momentum to draw more attention. Have you checked out how to time yours optimally in order to have a better shot? (~9AM on weekdays from what I remember)
- chris_va 13y agoAnecdote: I tried to submit my side project multiple times, it never got a single upvote. Then, a day after I gave up, someone else submitted it and it made it to the frontpage: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6622285 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6622285 After that, I came to the conclusion that HN's ranking system was highly sub-optimal (given that you can get wildly divergent behavior for the same content).
- bliti 13y agoHN has a bias towards what's currently in. Windows 8 is not really cool to the startup crowd, so it gets ignored. I saw the app and it looks nice. So, good job! If you want to get HNs attention, you must use node.js with Mongo and write blog post full with buzzwords. Then title it something like: "Show HN: Google Analtics app in Node.js/MongoDB"
- kohanz 13y agoOr Show HN: Google Analytics app in pure CSS ;)
- atom-morgan 13y agoI agree. I saw the original Show HN, checked out the app in the store and thought it looked great. But at the end of the day, it's a Windows 8 app. I don't even know anybody who has Windows 8.
- infinii 13y agoYeah. It's like trying to sell venison at a vegan retreat
- chc 13y agoI think you don't even need to go that far: Hacker News users don't tend to use Windows 8, so they can't very well try out a Windows 8 app. (Obviously some do, but my impression is that this is one of the few places where Windows use is solidly in the minority.)
- xauronx 13y agoI mean, take any successful product X and go "Hey everyone check this thing out", and they'll go "meh, yeah, it looks good at it's job". I always look to HN for some really new use of tech, or the rough product of someones hack-weekend. If you talk about something cool your product does in an interesting way you might have better luck, or perhaps tell your story.
- AznHisoka 13y agoDon't take it personally. Besides, the hacker news crowd probably isn't the target audience for your product. So it's all about feeding your ego anyway. Keep building and improving your product, and pitch it to the right community: ala Inbound.org, Moz, SEO forums, etc.