What makes a HN post popular? Looking for ideas beyond the obvious

Question

I&rsquo;m analyzing the relationship between post popularity and post features - trying to understand what makes certain posts resonate more than others. So far, I&rsquo;ve been looking at standard factors like text length, topic and timing.Now, I&rsquo;d like to consult the swarm intelligence of HN: What subtle or overlooked features do you think make a post catch fire? - Have you written or shared content that unexpectedly did really well - or flopped - and why do you think that happened? - Personal experiences, unconventional ideas, or even half-baked theories are welcome. I&rsquo;m hoping to uncover some less obvious insights, or at least expand the list of features worth analyzing. Thanks in advance!

MilnerRoute · Accepted Answer

You might look at question marks. (Your post has one.) Or punctuation in general. (Like the effect of two short sentences separated by a period, quotation marks, colons...)

andrewfromx · Answer

the quiet contrarian hook. Posts that challenge a sacred cow of the tech world—like “REST APIs Are Overrated” or “Maybe We Don’t Need More Frameworks”
specificity in the abstract. Posts that zoom into a niche detail—say, “The 17ms Delay That Broke My Compiler”
emotional valence with a twist of restraint. Posts that subtly provoke curiosity, mild frustration, or even a quiet sense of awe
the second-order question effect. Posts that don’t just ask “What’s the best X?” but instead ask “Why do we keep picking X when Y exists?”