

Ask HN: Has the scoring system for articles changed recently? - llambda

This is probably completely coincidental, but I've noticed several posts with three or four points that are nearly an hour old or older on the front page. Is this normally how the scoring system works?
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ColinWright
Yes. Items rise with points, sink with time and flags, and are penalized if
they don't actually have a link (such as your question here). If items get a
few votes very early, and it's a reasonably quiet time, 4 or 5 votes can
easily be enough to get to the front page for a time.

It may be that there have been recent scoring tweaks, but your observations
don't really support the conclusion.

Disclaimer: I'm just a user, I have no inside knowledge.

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ig1
It actually used to happen more than it is now, the dynamic of HN is
definitely changing though, more so due to the change in HN's demographics
than anything else.

It used to be the case that an article with more than 100 upvotes was
something really special, now half the articles on the front page have that
many votes.

Articles have to be much more mainstream in order to have a chance on the
front page. Hence the fact we have far more tabaloidy type articles like
"Here’s How U.S. Spies Will Find You Through Your Pics", "Another Airbnb
Victim Tells His Story" and "Getting Bin Laden" on the front page.

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llambda
Not sure I like this change in demographics... :\ But it seems to happen to
all communities like HN.

