It was personalized for us? So you're saying: In the process of creating the post, you designed it in ways that would appeal to the sorts of individuals that frequent Hacker News?
That sounds... a little like... social... engineering.
Wikipedia:
Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions.
We can get pedantic, but Jacques accused you of doing exactly what you're doing.
Thanks to this one article, everything you attempt to write from now on will be hounded by people criticizing you and calling out manipulation. You're Max Klein the con man. If you're sincere about your goal that won't deter you, but don't kid yourself into thinking the locals here will be a fan.
I'm ambivalent, myself; what you purport to do is what a thousand marketers have written about before you. What do you have to say that has not been said and critiqued before? If you're really committed to writing something interesting, that's a question you need to answer. If your goal is just fameballing, then expect fame, but fame's not as fun as it looks.
I think that's a little strong.
That said, I remember how vicious Hacker News got back when Valleywag was allowed on this site. Hell, look at how they get about TechCrunch's style of journalism. People don't like being told they've been manipulated, and they hold grudges. When somebody goes out of their way to tell an entire community that they've been manipulated, that community isn't going to be happy with the person who pointed it out.
Hopefully, Max, you're not offended by my choice of language? I didn't mean to deride you with it. It was more a warning that to an angry group there's little difference between a would-be magician and a shyster.
That's not how I think personally.
I'm curious to see how this plays out myself.