Tech News Sites Quietly Rely on This Word to Create Drama in Headlines (2017)
Posted4 months agoActive4 months ago
geekwire.comOtherstory
calmneutral
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Media AnalysisJournalismHeadline Writing
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Media Analysis
Journalism
Headline Writing
An analysis reveals that tech news sites often use a particular word to create drama in headlines, sparking discussion about journalistic practices and the impact on readers.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Light discussionFirst comment
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Key moments
- 01Story posted
Sep 23, 2025 at 6:58 PM EDT
4 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Sep 23, 2025 at 7:00 PM EDT
2m after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
2 comments in 0-1h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Sep 23, 2025 at 7:05 PM EDT
4 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
Discussion (2 comments)
Showing 2 comments
LammyAuthor
4 months ago
1 replyI was impressed that HN's automatic submission editor stripped the Q-word out of the headline of this post. I had only previously seen it make leading omissions (“Why…”, “How I…”, “The Story of…”)
leakycap
4 months ago
I've noticed a lot of quiet but delightful things like that on HN. Try to end a comment with the word s i g h and the form won't go through, for example.
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ID: 45353899Type: storyLast synced: 11/17/2025, 1:10:48 PM
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