
Ask HN: why are my 'show HN' posts ignored every single time? - Avalaxy
I&#x27;ve been working hard on a really cool Google Analytics app (http:&#x2F;&#x2F;apps.microsoft.com&#x2F;windows&#x2F;app&#x2F;googalytics&#x2F;34a0d886-d541-4362-80b6-62f61733f0a9) for Windows 8 and I&#x27;m really proud of it. It&#x27;s ranked as #1 top paid Business app in the Windows Store, and it received some nice press coverage. WPCentral posted about it for example: http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.wpcentral.com&#x2F;googalytics-windows-8-simple-way-access-your-analytic-data. We also got Google to retweet it: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;googleanalytics&#x2F;status&#x2F;390141635826159616.<p>I posted it here on HN multiple times, but it just keeps being ignored by everyone, and floating off the &#x27;new&#x27; page. Meanwhile, people who built something far more simple and&#x2F;or spent less time on it keep reaching the frontpage with their &#x27;show HN&#x27; posts. I know most people here run Apple, but isn&#x27;t it fair to just appreciate the effort someone else put in his project even though you won&#x27;t&#x2F;can&#x27;t use it? I always vote up &#x27;shown HN&#x27; posts when I see someone has built something nice, even though it&#x27;s for a different platform, or I&#x27;m simply not interested in their product.
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chewxy
The HN audience values hack values[0]. Often things are done for the sake of
novelty. Show HNs that reach the front page often demonstrate hack values or
novelty or utility to the audience. You know, the "it's cool!" or "that's a
great hack" feeling when you see it.

I've actually seen your app (and your submissions). It feels a bit run-of the
mill. It's honestly just...is. There is no further narrative (well, you did
mention that you had no decent option so you built your own). There is no
further elaboration of the hacker spirit that many on HN seem to cherish.

Hack values can be signaled in the title of your submission. Your titles seem
a bit weak, tbh. I can't tell what clever hacks were made (with the one
exception where you said you didn't have better options)

If you don't want to signal hack values, signal utility to the HN audience,
and people will respond. Of course the proportion of HN audience that uses WP8
as a platform is probably very small. Out of that small group, the utility
brought about by your Show HN is not necessarily shared by everyone. It's
probably shared by only a tiny proportion of that small group. Combined with
the European time zone that you're in, your chances of reaching the front page
is quite small

just my 2cents

Footnotes:

[0] Ouch. My head hurts parsing that sentence

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noodle
I'd simplify it further. HN likes things that are new, interesting and novel.
Not even necessarily things that encompass "hack values".

You could submit a Show post that has an excellent idea that would make you
rich, but it would get ignored and passed over if it were a B2B app written in
Java for a niche market.

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brudgers
This may be a case where a good story told in your blog would create more
interest. What was done to achieve success is more interesting than status as
the number one paid business app for Windows Phone among all companies with
their headquarters east of the Mississippi River and a founder whose first
name contains two or more vowels...so to.speak.

Entertain us.

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bliti
HN has a bias towards what's currently _in_. Windows 8 is not really cool to
the startup crowd, so it gets ignored. I saw the app and it looks nice. So,
good job! If you want to get HNs attention, you must use node.js with Mongo
and write blog post full with buzzwords. Then title it something like: "Show
HN: Google Analtics app in Node.js/MongoDB"

~~~
atom-morgan
I agree. I saw the original Show HN, checked out the app in the store and
thought it looked great. But at the end of the day, it's a Windows 8 app. I
don't even know anybody who has Windows 8.

~~~
infinii
Yeah. It's like trying to sell venison at a vegan retreat

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xauronx
I mean, take any successful product X and go "Hey everyone check this thing
out", and they'll go "meh, yeah, it looks good at it's job". I always look to
HN for some really new use of tech, or the rough product of someones hack-
weekend. If you talk about something cool your product does in an interesting
way you might have better luck, or perhaps tell your story.

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dully
Well..the same thing happened to my app one time. It only got like 4 up votes
or something but somehow a TechCrunch writer saw it and decided to write a
post about it.

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chris_va
Anecdote: I tried to submit my side project multiple times, it never got a
single upvote.

Then, a day after I gave up, someone else submitted it and it made it to the
frontpage:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6622285](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6622285)

After that, I came to the conclusion that HN's ranking system was highly sub-
optimal (given that you can get wildly divergent behavior for the same
content).

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AznHisoka
Don't take it personally. Besides, the hacker news crowd probably isn't the
target audience for your product. So it's all about feeding your ego anyway.
Keep building and improving your product, and pitch it to the right community:
ala Inbound.org, Moz, SEO forums, etc.

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throwmeaway2525
Well you made it to the top of "Ask" this time. Congrats. ;)

Looks nice and clean. Good luck!

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Terpaholic
A lot of show HN's seem to slide quickly without getting the critical momentum
to draw more attention. Have you checked out how to time yours optimally in
order to have a better shot? (~9AM on weekdays from what I remember)

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rhizome
There is no "why," it's just the way it is.

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jpatte
Worst. Answer. Ever.

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petervandijck
Don't worry, mine are too ;)

