Ask HN: Why do I need to use links' original titles?

6 pointssparktherapy12y ago3 comments

Some general news headlines are not really written up to "hacker standards". For example, the current #1 post is this: "Google shares hit $1,000 after strong earnings (bbc.co.uk)" and many of the comments are about how the stock price itself doesn't matter.

Similarly, there's "Sleep Flushes Toxins from the Brain (bbc.co.uk)" which annoyed several readers as well.

Some other titles are quite obscure & vague. I remember seeing "Reveal.js", but finding the site to be unreachable, and totally being unable to figure out what it does. It feels like linkbait because I can't figure out what it is until I click on it.

In general, it'd be good to summarize articles in titles, instead of simply using their original titles. Does anyone agree?

3 comments

tjr12y ago

I believe the problem this policy aims to solve is one of HN submitters inserting their own bias into self-written titles.

Whereas if the original title is used, then any bias in the title is confined to that of the article author / publisher.

pg12y ago

Or making mistakes. A significant number of rewritten titles are false.

sparktherapyOP12y ago

Thanks for your detailed post (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6572466).

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