[pmelendez]

There exists /r/programming and /r/coding and HN is still here.

In my opinion the success or failure of a site like this depends whether or not it has enough traction to start a good community, which at the end is what makes the difference.

[simba-hiiipower]

while i think it is a factor, i don't buy the whole 'good community' thing being as important as many here make it out to be..

i think hn benefits mainly from the fact its backed by some big-name influencers whose activities are highly relevant to its target audience. their presence is essentially a feature of the site that provides value beyond ‘link aggregation and discussion’.. it’s a differentiating feature, and is one that’s very difficult one for a new entrant, like a subreddit, to overcome. it also probably helps a lot that hn predates reddit..

these other ‘hn-like’ sites have no such differentiating features, and that’s why i don’t see them ever taking-off.. and given that reddit already exists, they’re often competing against subreddits which benefit greatly in terms of visibility.

[queensnake]

> hn predates reddit.

It doesn't. Paul Graham has said he made it to be like Reddit 'used to be' (in the early days, most of Reddit's users were sock puppets of the founders, and it was pretty high quality).

[vasilipupkin]

I personally don't give a rat's ass about the influencers. I come here for the articles and general discussion.

[dpeck]

hn is interesting because its the intersection of technology/startup life/entrepreneurship and all the sub genres within those.

Intersections don't translate as well to subreddits.