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Comment by pj | Hacker News Reader

No one cares that you think no one cares.

I'm so tired of the ego-busters. These kinds of generalizations are so 2001. Look, some people do care. The people promoting it.

In this community, the same population of people are promoting blog posts that say no one cares about your website while also promoting blog posts that say, "Code doesn't matter, you have to market your website!"

Well, seriously. Which is it? Do you want people to market their website or keep their traps shut?

My opinion, I love hearing about people's creations. I love hearing about things that are new and vibrant and created by passionate people.

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I can't figure out if you didn't read the article or just totally missed the point.

He isn't talking about coming to a site like HN and posting a "hey, take a look at my new webapp" thread, where people want to give you feedback and try out your new site. Instead, he gives two specific examples where some web designer or online department's pride got in the way of him accomplishing the task he came to the site to do in the first place.

The point of the post is about customer messaging. When you're talking to your customers, you should focus on the things that matter to them, not to you. The redesign of your newsletter very rarely falls into that category, and cheering loudly about it just looks clueless.

My girlfriend is on tour right now and the last time I went to visit her she was excited that she got a new plant. Now I personally didn't see what the big deal was but I was there with a friend of hers and they went on for about an hour on how plants "brighten up a room" and such.

Point of the story: Some people do care about things like new design and the authors of the e-mail, the one's this blog author accuses of being marketing hacks who don't speak from the heart, are probably in fact speaking from the heart. Because some people care deeply about aesthetics.

In other words the author of the blog post mistakes "I don't care" for "no one cares" and that's why he is, imho, wrong.

I also enjoy hearing about new designs and sites, which is a main reason I read HN.

It's probably important to note that this isn't my article or opinion. I just found it interesting to read and slightly amusing.

Oh, I mean no offense to you. It's always better to post links than to hesitate. Let the community decide. But always try to bring good stuff to the community.

Any good community has opinions on both sides.

It's funny, I wouldn't mind being told about someone's new site design, but I would mind if it was some company "interrupting" (seriously? e-mail isn't real-time; I must have the metaphor wrong; why do I think of it as an interruption?) me to tell me about it. A third party can say, "Hey, check out this guy's redesign" and it's news, but when it comes straight from the company, I for some reason don't want it, unless I have established ferocious brand loyalty with them, like Nintendo, and their e-mails to me feel intimate (like I'm part of an in-group and they get me and I get them) instead of markety (unlike Nintendo, which feels spammy)

Edit: What introspective drivel is this? Nobody cares what I think about whether or not anybody cares what anybody thinks about anybody's website.

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