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Ask HN: A User's First Post?

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Re: Ask HN: A User's First Post?

#11

Post by ckjohnston »

aneesh wrote: post #7

I never felt any barrier to posting on HN. Nearly everyone on this site is pretty welcoming. Just comment on something that interests you, or that you know something about. By the way, for me, and I suspect many others, it's not really a free rider problem like you describe. I don't gain much by simply having a collection of interesting links, nor do I feel like I'm doing a service when I post a comment or article. I…

Aneesh, it sounds to me like you've been part of the 1% club for a long time. I applaud you for that. Without people like you, HN wouldn't be my homepage.

But the point is that the vast majority of HN users are likely not contributors. Instead, they're passive visitors to the site. With respect to that group, unless you don't want those users contributing, there's definitely a free rider problem.

Although I certainly don't think the barrier is unique to HN (although downvoting adds some pressure to come with something decent). I was just wondering what creative strategies people have used to get people to leave their first post or comment. Because I think once you get that first comment, you get the user hooked (b/c then they experience the added value of the discussion you mention).

Re: Ask HN: A User's First Post?

#12

Post by kyro »

Why is posting here intimidating? There's this perception of this community being full of super serious users who are always in a ready position to pounce and criticize others. There are a handful who are like that, but for the most part, if you post anything that carries even the smallest ounce of intelligence, and are respectful, which really isn't hard to do, people will welcome you.

I think people are more likely to post here because there is something to be gained from the discourse that happens. I can walk away learning something new, whether it be through argumentation, or an 'Ask IN' post. You don't get that on Digg.

Re: Ask HN: A User's First Post?

#14

Post by donaq »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #9

Yes, posting and commenting here is intimidating at first. The combination of very smart people + strong opinions + all the web rockstars who hang out here gives one pause when commenting. I first wandered over to HN about six months ago from Reddit (and Digg, sad to say). For the first few weeks, the ratio of comments I wrote to comments I posted was about 2:1, because I was afraid of putting my foot in my mouth. Pe…

Out of curiosity, what was the root cause of the fear? Getting downvoted?

Re: Ask HN: A User's First Post?

#15

Post by TheAmazingIdiot »

ckjohnston wrote: post #11
aneesh wrote: post #7

I never felt any barrier to posting on HN. Nearly everyone on this site is pretty welcoming. Just comment on something that interests you, or that you know something about. By the way, for me, and I suspect many others, it's not really a free rider problem like you describe. I don't gain much by simply having a collection of interesting links, nor do I feel like I'm doing a service when I post a comment or article. I…

Aneesh, it sounds to me like you've been part of the 1% club for a long time. I applaud you for that. Without people like you, HN wouldn't be my homepage. But the point is that the vast majority of HN users are likely not contributors. Instead, they're passive visitors to the site. With respect to that group, unless you don't want those users contributing, there's definitely a free rider problem. Although I certainly…

It's great to finally find an interesting community of (somewhat+) like minded individuals. I've spent my time on digg, reddit, and slashdot trying to recreate early usenet culture.

I've been searching for a while for something 1/10 of 1% of the breadth and deepness of Usenet, aside the alt hierarchy. This place comes close to the wonderful moderated rooms of the comp groups.

I've lurked here long enough though. It's high time I at least said hi.

ObOntopic: I check out hackaday.com for interesting circuit/design and control ideas. I've had months of fun by reverse biasing leds for usage of data transfer. You can use a track of them as a track-sensor for a dimmer control, assuming you have access to a PIC programmer.

+I'm a young guy, but learned from old guys. My elder friends were all hams and old school circuit hackers. One of them even built their own vacuum tubes. Programming is interesting to say the least, but not really my forte. It's always been circuits and rf for me. Sorry for sounding conceited, as it wasn't my intention.

Re: Ask HN: A User's First Post?

#16

Post by ryanwaggoner »

donaq wrote: post #14
ryanwaggoner wrote: post #9

Yes, posting and commenting here is intimidating at first. The combination of very smart people + strong opinions + all the web rockstars who hang out here gives one pause when commenting. I first wandered over to HN about six months ago from Reddit (and Digg, sad to say). For the first few weeks, the ratio of comments I wrote to comments I posted was about 2:1, because I was afraid of putting my foot in my mouth. Pe…

Out of curiosity, what was the root cause of the fear? Getting downvoted?

Nah...it's more that I live in SF and I have a startup and I'm increasingly meeting more and more of the people on HN, so I don't want to look like an idiot.

I think of HN as online equivalent of a lounge at a university where a lot of really interesting people swing by to hang out and talk about things they care about. If I stop to think about how I might respond in such a setting, if the types of people who are on HN were sitting next to me, I'd probably run most things through my head before they left my mouth :)

Re: Ask HN: A User's First Post?

#18

Post by andrewl-hn »

rjurney wrote: post #13

Don't try and play genius, just add what you have to say when you know something worth sharing. Takes the pressure off, and works better anyway.

Yes, I was a passive reader for about nine months before creating an account, too. I'm also a Redditor (although my username is different) and one thing I found that works for me: if you're very emotional about the subject it's better to wait till it shows up on Reddit and post your opinion there. Redditors love emotions and controversy - so your post will perfectly add up to a discussion there. Alternatively you can just wait for a while and post your comment later: you wording will get more neutral at that time and you'll be pleasantly surprised with how well-formed your answer is.

But if you know something extra about the subject then it's much better to through that information into discussion earlier to let others see a bigger picture.

And of course - just ignore the karma thing. Personally I have no idea what is rating on either of those websites, I just write when I want to write.

Good luck anyway and very warm welcome to HN!

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