Ask HN: How has HN resisted Eternal September for so long?

2 points·dublinclontarf··7 comments

I began using reddit shortly after it began,it lasted quite well for a time, and with the Digg influx went downhill from there.

But HN still feels mostly true to when it began, howso?

View on HN

Traffic is low enough on the weekends that good content can still make the front page. So every Monday morning there is usually good stuff still remaining that bubbled up over the weekend, which sets a good example for the rest of the week.

Comment moderation has gone downhill, but there aren't enough comments that it really matters. Comments themselves are generally as good as the stories, which aren't great but are reasonable. Pretty much every important story makes the front page, albeit a lot of times the specific article that makes the front page isn't the best thing that's been written on that topic.

It must be the built in immune system. If it becomes too popular, stories about Erlang flood the home page.

http://paulgraham.com/hackernews.html

Go to bed now, Paul.

No, you won't. Hacker dude.

Just out of curiosity, how many daily uniques do we get these days?

/newsnews.html is very out of date :(

About 52k on weekdays.

I may be wrong but I think the Hell Banning system contributes the sanity of HN. I know many people (including me) don't like the "Our way, or the High Way" approach but if you think of the end and not the means it does work.

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