In this case, "hyped news" could be: News intensively promoted (many points) or discussed (many comments).
The nuance about exaggeration is optional.
I think it would only indicate hype if it were also true that most of the discussion was disingenuous in some way. The distinction underlying this thought is that discussion is not (usually) promotion or deliberate publicizing of the thing discussed. Usually, it's just plain, honest discussion.
Also the word hyped has a negative connotation in my mind, in particular that of exaggeration and b.s. As you mention perhaps this meaning is optional but for me the connection is strong.
I'd prefer another word. I thought the word hyper, for example hyperHN, might be better but anyway something else.
As for the "Hyped News" name, I don't think negative is inappropriate, take "Git" for example. Instead, amount of points and comments can be at the same time an indicator of importance (mostly points) and controversy (mostly comments). In either case, the leftmost news end up being those which people are more excited about.
Maybe I misunderstand you but isn't that what an extension does?
EDIT: For reference https://twitter.com/search?q=hyped the self-referenced use of "hyped" to mean excited about something is pretty popular
[1] http://bropages.org/ [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7121268
Obviously, for a non-commercial browser extension, it's not a big deal. But in any case I wouldn't blame the people for reacting to the name, I would blame the creator for choosing a bad one.
Perhaps color might be a good alternative as an indicator? Make the text fade away a bit if it is less relevant..etc...
Thanks for the kind words, anyway.
(do want)
