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Comment by mnglkhn2 | Hacker News Reader

[flagged]

There are no paid submissions to HN, nor is there an elaborate conspiracy between HN and "certain media orgs" to get paywalled links onto the front page.

This is the sort of nonsense tangent crud that the mods would normally zap to the bottom of the thread as "off topic". But they probably won't here, because it concerns their own moderation, and they're generally loathe to intervene --- even to clean up the threads --- when the optics of doing so are complicated.

So, if you're interested in helping them keep threads clear of conspiracies between HN and the NYT, it's helpful to know that the "flag" button for comments is revealed when you click the timestamp on the comment.

> There are no paid submissions to HN

I don't mean to derail your point (because it's valid) but I don't believe this statement is true. YC companies can pay[0] to get recruitment posts on the frontpage of HN.

[0]Note - I'm almost certain YC companies pay for this in some form (wether by cash or some other form) and would be happy for a YC company to confirm/deny.

I think that posting jobs directly to HN is another perk of being a YC company. As noted in the article, the mods can provide a definitive answer.

For what it is worth:

+ I suspect the value of one good hire for one YC company is potentially orders of magnitude more money to YC than whatever it would charge companies multiplied by all the possible times all the YC companies might pay it.

+ The revenue model of YC does not appear to include charging 'incubation' fees to the companies in its portfolio. To the degree this is true it differentiates YC from many other companies in the business of funding startups in batches and providing early stage support and advice. Again, I suspect this is because YC expects the return value of its investment to correlate with the length of runway a startup has and taking fees shortens the runway.

But I am speculating and could be wrong.

From conversations I've had with YC founders, I do not believe this is the case.

So how exactly do they get recruitment posts on the frontpage?

All the YC startups get access to a queue of new job postings that run on the site.

This. To my knowledge it's been a perq of being YC since the beginning- or at least close enough to the beginning that the physics was just becoming stable.

Job posts are a perk for YC companies. They do not pay for it.

IIRC YC companies can submit job postings to a queue and a limited number of them are published per day. Their position slowly decreases over a period of time until they're off the front page.

>How else can you ensure the front page placement for links that you are getting paid (or have an interest in) to promote.

You're not supposed to be able to ensure front page placement. Your content is supposed to rise and fall based solely on its merit, as determined by (unpaid and unaffiliated) users and the moderators.

Not when the party wanting to ensure it is YC and HN.

It should be the same even for YC companies.

Maybe it isn't, but it should be. And it shouldn't matter. Appearing on the front page of a web forum shouldn't be make or break, especially for a YC company.

There are always "XYZ startup in some godforsaken place in California is hiring" posts that I have to go through and hide.

I honestly wish we could comment and discuss the merits of the job, the company, and the location.

I think people are missing the intended irony in this post.

The final question makes it murky though. Sounds like an earnest attempt at mitigation. If it's irony, that part makes it too subtle for me!

Paid submissions are already disclosed by the inability to vote or leave comments. They also tend to be by one of a few companies looking for developers.

Specifically, the job ads are a) only for YC companies and b) have a set placement decay rate.

Both of those aspects keep the ads in check.

My comment is prompted by the realization that recently (for the past year or so) a lot of general interest NYTimes articles shoot straight up to HN front page. There are two explanations: either the HN crowd is turning into a general interest one or YC/HN has a deal with NYTimes to help the later increase their memberships.

Based on how the (down)votes go, I would give it a fair chance to the HN crowd turning into a "general interest" one.

A better argument against is that the NYTimes consistently produces good journalism.

You will notice that I did not comment on the quality of NYTimes' articles. And it was a convenient example as it is an easy one to spot (at this moment there are 2 articles from NYTimes on HN front page).

The question stands: should cross promotion deals be disclosed?

Above you posit the behavior you observe is due to a change in HN membership taste or some kind of deal between HN and NYT. I think the former is the easier to support: people often comment on changes on site membership. You appear to be giving more credence to the latter without evidence, which amounts to accusations of shillage. If you've got something firm, by all means, present it. If not, please abide by the guidelines which ask us not to engage in unsubstantiated accusations: generally this is applied with respect to other organizations, but I think HN should be given the benefit of the doubt here as well.

Sure, of course. But there aren't any.

> My comment is prompted by the realization that recently (for the past year or so) a lot of general interest NYTimes articles shoot straight up to HN front page.

I've noticed that for a lot longer, and for a lot more than just the New York Times.

> either the HN crowd is turning into a general interest one

The thing about "general interests" is that they are often shared even among members of a community centered around more specific special interests.

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