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HN isn't really a company in the sense that they don't have the same goals as a monetized website has - specifically, there isn't really a "drive" for users, or
by diminoten 13y ago
HN isn't really a company in the sense that they don't have the same goals as a monetized website has - specifically, there isn't really a "drive" for users, or traffic. In fact there are many things HN does to actively discourage "general" users from joining/remaining part of the community.
I offer no value judgement, I just wanted to be clear what is happening when a blog links to its HN submission directly like in this case, and even moreso to your latest point - HN doesn't give a hoot if you send traffic its way or not.
It's very non-intuitive, I understand your confusion.
- raganwald 13y agoI'm not confused, and I don't expect them to have any desire for traffic. That's why I link to it even though there's more than a few people who believe it hurts the way my posts are ranked. They do their thing without giving a damn what I do, and I do my thing without giving a damn what they do. If they really don't want people linking to HN discussions, they'll ask people not to do that. They aren't shy about asking people not to flood the new queue, for example. If they're penalizing the votes or comments of people who come through direct links, well, that's their business and I presume they know what they're doing. I'm a writer, not a SEO consultant.