Please vote if you prefer a direct link to a website instead of a link to Techcrunch | Hacker News Reader

Please vote if you prefer a direct link to a website instead of a link to Techcrunch

37 pointscosmok23 comments

I am tired of having to go to Techcrunch to find a link to a new startup/exciting product.

Most of the sites have About Us/ FAQs ,etc and most of the time I can figure out whether a product will be useful for me so please, link directly to your site.

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Are you serious? I'd much rather have TechCrunch's unique, seriously opinionated, and void of content, representation of a startup than exploring the startup myself. After all, would you see news first hand or have FOX report them to you in a fair and balanced way?

If someone wants to create a poll, that would be fine, but "please vote up if" links are not good for the site.

How about removing the karma threshold for making polls then?

Ok, it's now 20 points.

Another suggestion: add a line to the guidelines asking users to make polls rather than "vote up if" submissions, and maybe add a link to the guidelines on the submit page,

May not make a huge difference, but better informed users and less dead links have to be a good thing.

TechCrunch deserves credit when it is the one to inform us about the new product. We shouldn't ignore that.

If the company comes here directly, it gets linked directly and we have an even deeper conversation.

Agreed. I've noticed that when startups launch on YC with a "Review my Startup" or something, the feedback is almost always significantly better even if the comments are lesser in number.

Leave the TechCrunch link, it's often easier to read the summary instead of look at the site, even if the summary isn't that good. It's along the same lines as how I read the comments on HN to see if I should read the article.

EDIT: This (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=267935) is a great example of why I read HN comments before reading an article. Something like that could have been terrible or great, and the comments cleared that up for me.

I don't click Techcrunch links (never), but this is a matter of personal choice and a subjective ethical code. While I regret the popularity of such kind of content, I also really hate when a minority tries to enforce it's own rules over the majority.

So I won't complain, and certainly won't ask for the removal of TC links, since there is a real demand for it and most people are fine with it.

When I'm really interested in some start-up covered by TC, I usually Google my way around, it's quick and easy. Since I'm not alone for wanting a direct link, maybe the best way to solve this is to submit the direct link in the comments.

It wouldn't be so hard to get this new habit : if you're the first to Google your way around, please post the direct link in the comments. I've done it once before : http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=227015 Easy and convenient, isn't it ?

I like the summary provided by TechCrunch

Maybe that kind of info appeals to some people, but, I prefer to read the Blog/About Us section that is available now on most product websites. Not to mention the comments on HN.

I don't mind blogs and HN comments, but the blogs are not always very informative (might be written by the CEO, or by the system admin of the startup). Techcrunch is always similar, you know what you get, and it is written by professional journalists (for the most part). It is enough to decide if I want to go on reading the blog.

Sorry, I disagree. Half the time I don't click through to the start-up.

Many early/beta front pages are badly designed and do a terrible job of conveying what the start-up is trying to sell. TechCrunch at least does a reasonable job of pre-digesting what the start-up is about.

I'd be quite annoyed to lose the tech-crunch links.

I would like a summary from Hacker News, TechCrunch's creditability is not all that good.

good point. why don't you create a poll instead of a submit?

Probably doesn't have enough karma...

He will soon enough, after this "Who likes likeable things?" poll.

A very good arguement for removing the karma threshold for making polls.

"Vote up if..." is the last thing HN needs.

I think they plan on lowering it. From the FAQ:

"This is an experimental feature so there is currently a fairly high karma threshold for submitting new polls."

possible...

Techcrunch sucks. But its opinion is very important and there is often useful information in the write up.

...but I HATE the regurgitation of Techcrunch (and CodingHorror) links here on Hacker News. How about prefixing links with the site:

[Techcrunch] Twitter Twitter Twitter :-)

HN already adds the domain after the link.

Yes -- link directly. TechCrunch spews opinion, not facts.

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