There are some interesting trends i’ve observed about the dynamic between discussions, links posts, and comments on SN, and figured I’d share them in a post.
#1
98% of the top 50 posts by comments this month are for discussion posts
The number of comments doesn’t directly affect rewards but is one factor that influences the ranking and visibility of a post
84% of the top 50 posts by zaprank and 86% of the top 50 posts by sats are also discussion posts
in these calculations, i’m grouping bounties and polls into the “discussion post” category
#2
Roughly 50% of posts are discussion posts these days, up from 10-20% in the early days of SN
It seems like the community is collectively nudging creators towards creating posts that prompt discussions rather than pure news updates
#3
There seems to be a threshold on all posts, where after there are 2-3 comments the barriers for community participation are much lower
Great posts often get lots of sats before they get any comments, it usually takes a couple of starter comments before a wave of back-and-forth discussion ensues
Early comments also get better visibility than later ones, and if they’re interesting it stands to reason they’ll get more sats too
#4
The top-ranked comments on SN skew towards being quite long.
In one sense, it’s a good thing that what appear to be thoughtful, detailed comments are being read and appreciated. However, I’m not sure length of a comment is always a good proxy for quality in the long run
Any other interesting SN trends you’re noticing?
#5