Note on Beyond the Front Page: A Personal Guide to Hacker News via neverland

the ranking of posts, which determines the first impression of any forum, is not simply based on recency or interaction count but on a very strict set of criteria. New submissions start on the “New” section with one point. Only after four “upvotes” (i.e., five points total) does a post qualify for the front page. Qualified submissions are ranked by the ratio of upvotes to time since submission, and only the top thirty submissions appear on the literal “page one.”

(As an exception, moderators can give low-traction posts a “re-upping.” If they feel a post has been overlooked, they can manually place it at the bottom of the front page, giving it a second chance without overly interfering with the algorithm.)

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neverland

Beyond the Front Page: A Personal Guide to Hacker News

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