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What happens when you're #1 on Hacker News for a day

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Re: What happens when you're #1 on Hacker News for a day

#71

Post by dwfer55454 »

phaus wrote: post #20
RyanZAG wrote: post #3

Really interesting read on how much interaction HN brings. There is a lot to be said for quality over quantity when it comes to page views. I believe you are wrong about dismissing that top comment in the other post as snarky, negative and useless. That comment has a lot of very useful information from someone who appears to have been doing the Thailand thing longer than you have. 1) Thai law was brought up a number…

One of the annoying parts of this article was that the author dismissed the comment as "non-factual" without providing any evidence or explanation. Apparently whenever someone writes something that the author disagrees with, it is automatically categorized as snark.

The commenter claims to have lived in Thailand for 14 years and the OP just dismisses his points out of hand. Kids these days.

Re: What happens when you're #1 on Hacker News for a day

#72

Post by seanmcdirmid »

doorhammer wrote: post #68
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you have a bunch of idealistic yelling "come here, its perfect," you can't help but feel irked by it. But I think you are right, people should learn on their own; wisdom can't easily be transferred.

I am completely on board with pointing out where a blog post or comment went wrong. In this case, I'm even fine with saying that the post sounds idealistic. I just still think you can reply with a civil critique that at least tries to sound a little more objective and a little less vitriolic. Reply with information, sources, or personal experiences, and try to put them out there with a little less venom. I get that i…

As a struggling writer, I value some amount of vitriolic/venom/sarcasm as color that can make an otherwise dry post read better; pure bland information alone is hard to digest without sugar or even grapefruit bitterness. I'm not able to do it very well, so I don't try, but I see value in those that can. The commenter's post was informative, colorful, and tasteful in my opinion, but I understand there are also people out there who are extremely sensitive and easily offended...like say those who find many flavors offensive and prefer blandness.

But as for my original point, I would always trust the snarker in this case over the harmonious river crab: based on my experience, the former's information is actually more useful than the latter's. Call it an imperfect generalization.

Re: What happens when you're #1 on Hacker News for a day

#73

Post by lancewiggs »

Nobody has yet given feedback on your landing page for Tubelytics (1), where you said only one person signed up from the HN post.

From my perspective there is simply nothing there(2), and 5 seconds looking at a static page is just not enough information for me to make a decision. That decision is not just to give you my email address, but to "sign-up", which is a huge step too far.

At the very least I need a "find out more" option, and I'd need that without having to give you my email address or other details.

You clearly write very well, so why not tell the Tubelytics story underneath the landing page. Let me scroll down and read the story, see the screenshots, hear about the use cases and experience the success stories.

By the time people get to the end they should know what the product is, how awesome it will be for them to use it, how much it costs and whether or not they will buy.

(Advanced) Ideally I could play with the product and even set it up with my youtube videos(3) without logging in, and once I experience the product then I can save the data by creating an account and, more likely, pay you.

So rather than not getting an email, perhaps there is a better way to get a paid sign-up.

(1) https://tubelytics.com (2) I'm OSX Safari with flash block on (3) I'm not a target customer

Re: What happens when you're #1 on Hacker News for a day

#74

Post by mkhalil »

lancewiggs wrote: post #73

Nobody has yet given feedback on your landing page for Tubelytics (1), where you said only one person signed up from the HN post. From my perspective there is simply nothing there(2), and 5 seconds looking at a static page is just not enough information for me to make a decision. That decision is not just to give you my email address, but to "sign-up", which is a huge step too far. At the very least I need a "find ou…

I agree with pretty much everything you said. Just revisited. Signing up for anything is a big commitment, especially when I don't even fully know what I'm signing up for.

Re: What happens when you're #1 on Hacker News for a day

#75

Post by dwfer55454 »

doorhammer wrote: post #68
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you have a bunch of idealistic yelling "come here, its perfect," you can't help but feel irked by it. But I think you are right, people should learn on their own; wisdom can't easily be transferred.

I am completely on board with pointing out where a blog post or comment went wrong. In this case, I'm even fine with saying that the post sounds idealistic. I just still think you can reply with a civil critique that at least tries to sound a little more objective and a little less vitriolic. Reply with information, sources, or personal experiences, and try to put them out there with a little less venom. I get that i…

You generation Y kids truly are bizarre. Not everything has to run via a consensus of mediocrity.

No one cares what you're "fine with". No one gives a f*ck what you "want". People are gonna give you the hard truth regardless.

Re: What happens when you're #1 on Hacker News for a day

#76

Post by dwfer55454 »

chris_wot wrote: post #44
phaus wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The original comment wasn't attacking the author, it was simply stating that while many people seemed excited at the prospect of flying off to Thailand (one person even emailed the author after booking tickets) that they should slow down and consider the expenses and lifestyle changes involved. His response was clearly intended to be humorous, but that doesn't mean that it was intended to reflect negatively on the au…

It didn't "simply state", it used snark to do so. The tone was awful and it wasn't necessary. If it was simply stated, then it could have read something like this: "Thailand has a number of issues, of which cost of loving is the main problem. Etc."

Where does hacker news find these hermits?

Re: What happens when you're #1 on Hacker News for a day

#77

Post by doorhammer »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #72
doorhammer wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am completely on board with pointing out where a blog post or comment went wrong. In this case, I'm even fine with saying that the post sounds idealistic. I just still think you can reply with a civil critique that at least tries to sound a little more objective and a little less vitriolic. Reply with information, sources, or personal experiences, and try to put them out there with a little less venom. I get that i…

As a struggling writer, I value some amount of vitriolic/venom/sarcasm as color that can make an otherwise dry post read better; pure bland information alone is hard to digest without sugar or even grapefruit bitterness. I'm not able to do it very well, so I don't try, but I see value in those that can. The commenter's post was informative, colorful, and tasteful in my opinion, but I understand there are also people…

Yeah, I can understand that perspective, and I'm really conflicted about that kind of thing. I try to ascribe to a pragmatists view of it. I should say that I'm also not someone who has done a lot of formal study of communication and education, but I tend to think that abrasive language tends to stifle discourse to a point.

I'm amenable to the idea that it's got its place and that it can be useful. I just wonder how often it's useful compared to how often it's used.

To me it's a matter of figuring out whether or not you're really trying to educate as many people as you can, and which delivery method is most powerful for that goal. I think you can accomplish that without attacking someone else. Of course there's the idea that emotional responses can catalyze a more poignant memory, and as you say, draw more attention to your point.

shrug

And this is why I drink.

edit: (in reference to the response below) I should say that I've abstracted away from the concrete post that triggered all of this. Either way, this is the kind of dialogue I like. You can disagree on some things, get something out of it, and never have to get in anyone's face)

Re: What happens when you're #1 on Hacker News for a day

#78

Post by AndrewKemendo »

GuerraEarth wrote: post #58
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #24

Thus Narcissus fell into the lake

This is all rippingly hilarious. Especially the last point about the mom. Then I read the Narcissus comment. And I lost it laughing. Yet the really funny part is that I don't think he sees himself as a Narcissus at all. He's pointing out some stats--out loud.

Honestly, I would have done exactly the same thing as him if I were in the same position.

I think however we as founders can easily get focused on tracking metrics that in the end amount to fairly trivial things. They help us make changes around the margins, which can payoff big or just be small gains.

I think what he did was a good exercise, however the whole post, analyze, post thing though is a tad navel gazing for my tastes.

Re: What happens when you're #1 on Hacker News for a day

#80

Post by [deleted] »

RyanZAG wrote: post #3

Really interesting read on how much interaction HN brings. There is a lot to be said for quality over quantity when it comes to page views. I believe you are wrong about dismissing that top comment in the other post as snarky, negative and useless. That comment has a lot of very useful information from someone who appears to have been doing the Thailand thing longer than you have. 1) Thai law was brought up a number…

[deleted]
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