I get the feeling that certain topics about certain technologies often get at the front page even if there is other threads that have more points and activity that isn't shown on the front page.
Why is that?
> How are stories ranked?
> The basic algorithm divides points by a power of the time since a story was submitted. Comments in threads are ranked the same way.
> Other factors affecting rank include user flags, anti-abuse software, software which demotes overheated discussions, account or site weighting, and moderator action.
So if a story gets points very quickly, it will appear on the front page. If it don't keep getting points it will disappear.
I'm just speculating here but I think a number of posts are curated to land on the home page when you're directly or indirectly related to YCombinator funded companies.
I explained what is probably going on in a sibling comment. Less of a conspiracy, and more about a handful of people seeing the hyped language du jour in the title and upvoting it in a matter of minutes.
Chris McCord is the creator of Phoenix and this is a post about Phoenix functionality. What you say is likely correct but that's a strong tie.
Probably the right thing to do ethically if you want to run a forum but at the same time it would be bad business.
I'm not saying that this occurred here and I don't really care either but I wouldn't exactly trust a company on their word on something they can benefit financially from.
So it's basically a game of pure chance, a topic that's not too niche, a topic that one upvotes without even reading, and/or good clickbait technique.
HN's algo optimises for popularity, rather than meaty content.