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I'm a fan of both HN and DF. If I assume my worldview is accurate, that both are above-board, then the only explanation I have left is flamewar detection. Your links get too many comments—plus some flags sprinkled in there—too fast relative to upvotes. So, your posts get too much engagement. There is a twisted logic to that algo, esp. for a "News For Nerds. Stuff That Matters"-flavored attitude, and esp. for a site that's trying to be as efficiently managed as possible. Plus, Scott Alexander noted recently a decline in Substack due to deboosting on X, but also that just too many people are now Substacking, many of whom are good, and a lot who are just clones. And on the Dithering about "Rotten", you and Ben both concur that it feels like a while since either of you went viral. So as soon as a solo blogger blows up, the system quickly co-opts that blend of content into other media channels. i.e., Indie generally doesn't last. I did a YoY look at your rankings: 2007: #50 2008: #20 2009: #3 2010: #1 2011: #2 2012: #7 2013: #34 2014: #17 2015: #568 2016: #184 2017: #8 2018: #69 2019: #86 2020: #8 2021: #20 2022: #406 2023: #98 2024: #133 2025: #53 (10/9/20XX – 10/09/20XX) https://refactoringenglish.com/tools/hn-popularity/?start=20... Something weird definitely happened in 2015/2016, for sure (maybe the start of the anti-engagement algo). But your blog was also crazy popular between the iPhone's release and Steve Jobs' death. That was probably the most dynamic time in Apple's history (post-Sculley), with plenty of controversy worthy of exacting critique (Antennagate, etc.) |
https://daringfireball.net/2025/03/something_is_rotten_in_th...