HN Contest: Invent the perfect HN-link-bait title | Hacker News Reader

HN Contest: Invent the perfect HN-link-bait title

I know we don't do jokes around here very much (unless they are a small part of a comment and in support of a greater point) but I thought that it might be fun to have a contest for folks to come up with the types of article titles they see on HN that strikes them as being link-bait.

I figure not only could this be fun/funny, but it also might help the community take a fresh look at the kinds of material we're seeing on the front page (and whether we like it or not)

So what's the best title to guarantee a huge HN response? What are the things we reflexively upvote?

View on HN

"Google buys majority stake in MSFT, forces open-sourcing of Windows"

"Tell HN: My startup, RuSrs, built this weekend with JRailsDjango + Nginx + EC2 + NoSQL"

"Julian Assange is a CIA NOC, released cables to flush out double operatives"

The real Facebook killer: Assange's new stealth startup (YC W12) launches at TC50

This one was very nice as you happen to have the maximum density of HN buzzword-candy per sentence.

Followup: "Talent acquisition: Groupon buys LeakFace for undisclosed amount"

Anything related to stereotypical concerns of single heterosexual males (e.g., how to pick up women). It will be justified as a "hack" if someone complains that it has little to do with start-ups or technology. Usually articles of that kind don't fit the "delight the mind" criterion.

A very close second is anything related to high-IQ people feeling superior to other people even if they have no noteworthy accomplishments or are social misfits. That's a more interesting issue, on theoretical grounds, and I post in (and even initiate a few of) those threads, but there are many other places online where that issue is more primary, and more likely to be discussed on the basis of the best published literature on the issue.

In some contexts, the articles on erlang are pure linkbait, usually as a response to some series of HN submissions with less relevance to computer technology.

"Use hidden Erlang innards to pick up girls"

You're right. There have been many articles on dating and sex, all with some kind of tenuous hacking link. And all from the male perspective.

"Study shows that people on HN are 80% more likely to read about everybody else's startups/projects than to make their own"

Or "how to stop reading articles like this and actually accomplish something"

"P = NP"

"K is a ghetto", where K is the language/library of the week.

Microsoft Announces Windows 8 Will be Based on Unix

Windows Phone 8 to be a Custom Version of Android

Microsoft Announces All Future Versions of IE Will Use WebKit

The first line actually got me... I forgot for a moment that this was a fantasy linkbait thread.

Well played, sir/madame.

"Bypass YC Application Process for the Next Round with the Best Answer to 'Why Me?' in this Thread"

"Torrent of all HN Passwords" (thepiratebay.org)

Condé Nast acquires HN.

"Controversial new bill proposes higher tax for smaller businesses & start-ups".

"Paul Graham has a very special announcement - please read"

Here's an initial stab:

"TechCrunch Servers Go Down as TSA takes naked pictures of Arrington using special SSH tunneling protocol"

"Wikileaks releases internal Microsoft emails proving world domination plans"

"Sartups without money: How I made 14 million dollars in 4 days using an old rubber hose and a tuna" (predictably loaded with details about the youth of the founder and the type of sports car they drive and very light on business models or details of how it all actually worked)

"New Scientific Research reveals very complicated new programming artifact that involves lots of math and that you will never actually use"

"Please review my startup that I made in five minutes one-handed while doing shooters and singing karaoke"

How about "HN is being shut down"? :)

That'd be sure to get a crazy level of response!

Maybe, but unless there was some kind of scandal around why it was being shut down, it'd have to be from PG...unless you quoted him:

"PG says Hacker News no longer useful, shutting down"

Right, of course. In the spirit of the post, I was throwing out a crazy idea. Let's just hope that never happens :)

"Major VCs switch to YC-like application process"

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