Hacker News Guidelines: What Makes Content Worth Discussing

Hacker News operates as a curated community where the central question is whether content would interest "good hackers" and intellectually curious readers. The platform explicitly defines its scope as anything that gratifies intellectual curiosity, which extends well beyond pure technology or startup topics.

The guidelines draw a clear line between on-topic and off-topic content. Stories about politics, crime, sports, or celebrity news are generally excluded unless they reveal something genuinely novel or interesting. The rule of thumb is simple: if it would appear on TV news, it probably doesn't belong on Hacker News.

For submissions, the community emphasizes authenticity and original sources. Users are asked to submit the original source material rather than articles that merely reference it. The platform discourages tactics that make posts stand out artificially, such as using all caps, exclamation points, or editorial commentary in titles. Site names are automatically displayed after links, so including them in titles is redundant.

Title formatting receives specific attention. Gratuitous numbers and sensational adjectives should be removed unless the number carries meaningful information. "10 Ways To Do X" becomes "How To Do X," and "14 Amazing Ys" becomes simply "Ys." The exception is when numbers are substantive, like "The 5 Platonic Solids."

Video and PDF content should be clearly marked with [video] or [pdf] tags to set reader expectations. The guidelines also prohibit using Hacker News for direct communication with the community or moderators—such messages should go to [email protected] instead.

Content deletion is reserved for submissions that shouldn't have been posted initially, not for reposting failed attempts. The community actively discourages upvote solicitation, comment farming, and other promotional behaviors. Users should vote and comment based on genuine interest, not strategic promotion.

Comment guidelines emphasize constructive discourse. Users are asked to be kind, avoid snark, and engage curiously rather than combatively. When disagreements arise, the focus should be on addressing arguments rather than attacking people. The community values thoughtful criticism but rejects rigid negativity or superficial dismissals.

Several specific behaviors are prohibited in comments. Generated or AI-edited comments are not allowed, as Hacker News prioritizes human conversation. Users should respond to the strongest interpretation of others' arguments rather than weaker, easier-to-criticize versions. Good faith should be assumed, and flamebait or generic tangents should be avoided.

Political or ideological battles have no place on the platform, as they undermine the curiosity-driven mission. Comments about whether someone read an article are considered unnecessary—if clarification is needed, it can be stated directly. Provocative complaints about minor article details are discouraged in favor of substantive responses.

Throwaway accounts are acceptable for sharing sensitive information but shouldn't be used routinely. The community functions best when users maintain consistent identities that others can recognize and relate to. Formatting guidelines specify using asterisks for emphasis rather than uppercase, which creates italics.

Accusations of astroturfing, shilling, or coordinated manipulation are prohibited as they degrade discussion quality. Users concerned about abuse should report it to moderators rather than making public accusations. Egregious comments should be flagged rather than engaged with directly.

Minor annoyances like website formatting issues, name collisions, or technical glitches are considered too common to warrant discussion. Comments about voting patterns on posts are similarly discouraged as unproductive. Perhaps most notably, complaints that Hacker News is becoming like Reddit are identified as a recurring misconception that has existed since the platform's early days.