Unrelated: is there a delay on HN between submission and publication? I posted that article a few days ago and the header is now "3 hours ago".
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Some postings get a second chance if they're considered interesting but didn't get much traction the first time around.
Thanks! Digging into your link I found the explanation:
> There's one glitch that occasionally confuses people. When the software lobs a story, it displays a rolled-back timestamp—not the original submission time, but a resubmission time relative to other items on the front page. If you see a timestamp inconsistency on HN, this is probably why. Edit: if this is the kind of detail that interests you, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19774614 for a more recent explanation.
I think it also messes up the timestamps on top level replies? It's super confusing, and sometimes you see a reply that's outdated since there's been new new or discussion since, etc.
HNs system can be hard to figure out. I posted an ~identical article to one that hit #1 on top page a few hours before the other guy. My own posting only got like 8 votes. I have no idea what I did wrong. I think there is some randomness in the beginning; if a couple people notice it in the first 15 or 20 minutes then it stays high enough other people notice it and then it snowballs.
If you have a good post though that gets overlooked someone will commonly "steal" it and use a slightly different article and good chance that one will get traction. Surprised no one thought to do that before you got a second chance.
There is something slightly with the system if people are actually even thinking about posts in terms like this. "The other guy stole my spotlight?" Do people somehow make money from their HN post stats? I guess somehwere some how some people probably do.
I do obvioulsy recognize that at a low level it's fundamental human nature to apply those kinds of game/competition thoughts to literally everything in life, but still it seems like this would be a case where the act of thinking about it consciously enough to write it down, is enough to make one realize it sounds silly.
It seems like human nature that if you attach a number or score to something, people are going to try and get the most they can.
Which is kinda the point. Nobody wants to lose score, so they don't post horrible comments (usually) and they try to find the most interesting articles to post. That's good for everyone. But it does have the side-effect of people complaining that their karma was "stolen".
In my case I was glad someone else got it out because it was in regards to a civil rights leader being imprisoned. I used "steal" in quotes for a reason, but of course, I will admit, I am a lowly ape. When I see other ape get huge points for same action I wonder what I did wrong, even though I happy for other ape, the best simple word I can come up for it is "steal" as lowly ape brain understand and convey this easily.
Brian is much higher ape, free from these low-level ape impulses so long as he writes them out. I hope to be higher ape someday. Ape work harder to get higher thought like Brian.
Nailed it.
Diddums