Ask HN: Why does HN like my tool more than other places, and how do I market it?

[Alex-Programs]

I've been working on https://nuenki.app, a language learning browser extension that translates sentences at your knowledge level into your target language.

I've been fairly unsuccessful at marketing. My Reddit posts have done poorly, and Reddit, Google, and Twitter ads have all been totally ineffective.

However, I had a pretty successful product hunt launch (that I squandered by not having a trial at the time), and I've been surprised by how positive the response has been when I've shared it on HN. I've had feedback, signups, and most of my paying users from a few comments I made on relevant posts.

It's pretty interesting, particularly because this isn't a language learning community.

1. What is it about the HN / PH demographic that makes things different? Do I present Nuenki in a way that works best with other programmers?

2. How can I scale this to other places, rather than the occasional HN thread?

[Finnucane]

These days I assume that online ads are mostly for garbage and/or scams. Also: try to avoid seeing them as much as possible, use ad blockers, avoid sites that are too heavily ad-driven.

[Alex-Programs → Finnucane]

I wonder if ad blockers might have a role. Precisely the demographic who seem to like it are also the demographic who run ad blockers 100% of the time and would never click on one anyway - like me.

[Finnucane → Alex-Programs]

Whereas here on HN, people post about stuff they made all the time, it's normal.

[PaulHoule]

HN has a particular combination of people who are interested in software development and business and particularly both.

I'm definitely to the left of HN opinion but I couldn't stand proggit because the people there were communists in my mind because I'd get jumped on whenever I'd admit that part of my motivation for programming was the money.

[Alex-Programs → PaulHoule]

Do you know of anywhere else with that combination?