Ask HN: How do I get my question on Hacker News to show up in the “ask” section? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do I get my question on Hacker News to show up in the “ask” section?

33 pointsecmucele7 comments

I'm not seeing this question that I asked show up in the "ask" section on Hacker News: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28427171

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

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https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html

> Why hasn't my submission appeared on Ask HN or Show HN?

> All submissions appear on newest, and all Show HNs on shownew, but there is a small points threshold before a post appears on ask or show.

Your submissions need more upvotes to pass the threshold

There are lots of Ask HN submissions that never get to the Ask HN section. As mentioned by others, all submissions to Ask HN need to cross a threshold. I don't know if the threshold is different from the front (news) page. I suspect yes.

There are also lots of Ask HN submissions that remain a bit stagnant in the Ask HN section for days without much comment. Unlike the fast-moving news homepage, I suspect Ask HN entries need at least a few days to attract attention and comments.

Occasionally, the Ask HN section includes entries that have nothing to do with Ask HN. For example, as I write this message, there is an entry in the Ask HN section (without using the Ask HN title) which is in fact a Show HN entry. (The submission is Python Functional-streams A Library to write concise functional code.) I'm not sure how these entries make their way into Ask HN - perhaps the author edited the title to remove 'Ask HN'?.

It is mostly timing then topic. I once posted late Saturday night on New York time. It got 1000 points and a ton of comments. Other times in the middle of the work week, posts have gotten zero comments.

This is so true. It also occurs across accounts with regular submissions. I've posted items that got 1-3 points. Then someone else posts the same item a few days later and it gets 100+. (This has also happened in reverse, where my post got 100+ points, a few days after someone else submitted it.)

I don't think all HN popularity is due to luck, but maybe 30-60%?

FWIW this post is now top of the "ask" section.

I've wondered the same things, I figured there was some person scanning submissions, hopefully not the much loved and overworked DanG.

There's some luck involved. I explained how it works in a recent article: https://felx.me/2021/08/29/improving-the-hacker-news-ranking...

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