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Ask HN: Where were popular sites like Tinder first announced?

Using Tinder as an example. Given a hugely popular site like Tinder there had to be a point at which it was first announced to the public in a forum similar to this (except maybe not this tech crowd). How did the public first hear about it? What was the point at which it went hugely popular? Was that day 1? I am not so much interested in Tinder, but more any popular site?

markcrazyhorse 12y ago
I'm not too sure but flappy bird the game only got successful overnight because someone hated how crap it was and posted it onto Buzzfeed. Then it went viral.
- wallflower 12y ago
  TouchArcade was the first mainstream venue to report on it. Then, eventually, PewDiePie, the #1 Youtube star by views, took it to to the exosphere. http://www.appfreak.net/deconstructing-incredible-success-flappy-bird/ http://www.appfreak.net/deconstructing-incredible-success-fl...
markcrazyhorse 12y ago
There are also places like reddit that has a subreddit for basically everything.
MichaelCrawford 12y ago
I have a whole bunch of content on just one site that I want to promote, but I don't want to spam. I've posted a few of the links here at HN, but I don't want to wear out my welcome. Sometimes I can find good places to post my links by using web search, but it's quite a lot of time and effort. There's no real way to know ahead of time how many clicks I'll get, or whether I'll get any backlinks. I've had lots of clicks from comments posted to what I thought were really obscure, low-traffic sites, I expect because the people who frequent those sites, like to click links more than, say, Reddit or Facebook users.
bramgg 12y ago
Tinder isn't a site, it's an app. They got their early users by visiting college campuses and showing kids how easily it can get them laid. The full story is a great read: https://medium.com/message/how-tinder-co-founder-whitney-wolfe-hacked-metcalfes-law-f607dddbde66 https://medium.com/message/how-tinder-co-founder-whitney-wol...
- MichaelCrawford 12y ago
  Hey that's a great idea. My App isn't likely to help anyone score, but it would make good demo for computer science students.
wallflower 12y ago
"After I sent out that first email, I went rollerblading around a big office park where Tellme was based. I went up to a random guy and said, “Hey man, have you checked out hotornot.com yet?” He said, “No, what’s that?” I said, “Dude, just go check it out!” Then I went home and watched our logs for Tellme and saw a hit come in 10 minutes later, and then more hits kept coming from different people within Tellme.” -James Hong, cofounder, HOTorNOT From "Founders at Work"

markcrazyhorse 12y ago

I'm not too sure but flappy bird the game only got successful overnight because someone hated how crap it was and posted it onto Buzzfeed. Then it went viral.

wallflower 12y ago
TouchArcade was the first mainstream venue to report on it. Then, eventually, PewDiePie, the #1 Youtube star by views, took it to to the exosphere. http://www.appfreak.net/deconstructing-incredible-success-flappy-bird/ http://www.appfreak.net/deconstructing-incredible-success-fl...

markcrazyhorse 12y ago

There are also places like reddit that has a subreddit for basically everything.

MichaelCrawford 12y ago

I have a whole bunch of content on just one site that I want to promote, but I don't want to spam. I've posted a few of the links here at HN, but I don't want to wear out my welcome. Sometimes I can find good places to post my links by using web search, but it's quite a lot of time and effort. There's no real way to know ahead of time how many clicks I'll get, or whether I'll get any backlinks. I've had lots of clicks from comments posted to what I thought were really obscure, low-traffic sites, I expect because the people who frequent those sites, like to click links more than, say, Reddit or Facebook users.

bramgg 12y ago

Tinder isn't a site, it's an app. They got their early users by visiting college campuses and showing kids how easily it can get them laid. The full story is a great read: https://medium.com/message/how-tinder-co-founder-whitney-wolfe-hacked-metcalfes-law-f607dddbde66 https://medium.com/message/how-tinder-co-founder-whitney-wol...

MichaelCrawford 12y ago
Hey that's a great idea. My App isn't likely to help anyone score, but it would make good demo for computer science students.

wallflower 12y ago

"After I sent out that first email, I went rollerblading around a big office park where Tellme was based. I went up to a random guy and said, “Hey man, have you checked out hotornot.com yet?” He said, “No, what’s that?” I said, “Dude, just go check it out!” Then I went home and watched our logs for Tellme and saw a hit come in 10 minutes later, and then more hits kept coming from different people within Tellme.” -James Hong, cofounder, HOTorNOT From "Founders at Work"