Ask HN: Posts dropping off from homepage?

4 pointssgdesign3 comments

For a while now I've noticed a lot of my posts dropping off the front page as soon as they start getting a few upvotes.

It just happened again with this one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6498675

I'd really like to know if:

A) There's a problem with my posts. B) There's a problem with HN. C) Stuff happens and I'm just being paranoid.

Has anybody else noticed this happening to them?

Your post went from #24 to #79 in five minutes: http://hnrankings.info/6498675/

It happens all the time. I often comment on one of the top 5 articles, only to come back a few minutes later unable to find it on the front-page. I always thought it was a flagging issue, but considering the nature of your post, I'm starting to think it might be a bug with the HN algorithm.

That could make sense. In any case, I'm glad to be reminded that HNRankings exists. That graph really shows the drop, I'll print it out and file it in my "HN Conspiracy Theories" folder.

It looks like your posts just lose momentum - a couple early upvotes can propel you straight to the front page but if you can't sustain your momentum you'll fall off it in favor of others. Flagging can also really hurt a new story.

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