| URL | http://news.ycombinator.com/ |
|---|---|
| Type of site | News aggregator |
| Registration | Free; optional OpenID |
| Available language(s) | English |
| Launched | February 19, 2007 |
| Current status | Online |
Hacker News is a social news website about computer hacking and startup companies, run by Paul Graham's funding firm Y Combinator. It is different from other social news websites in that there is no option to down vote submissions; submissions can either be voted up or not voted on at all. In contrast, comments can be down voted when a user accumulates sufficient "karma," or points gained when submissions or comments are voted up. In general, content that can be submitted is defined as "anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity".[1]
The site was created by Paul Graham in February 2007. Initially it was called Startup News or occasionally News.YC. On August 14, 2007 it became known by its current name.[2] It developed as a project of his company Y Combinator, functioning as a real-world application of the Arc programming language which Graham co-developed.[3][4][5]
The intention was to recreate a community similar to the early days of Reddit.[6] Graham has stated he hopes to avoid the Eternal September that results in the general decline of intelligent discourse within a community.[7][8][9]