Half of Show HN posts are a bare link. Ones with 500 characters got 2x replies

An analysis of 37,622 Show HN submissions from January through September 2026 found that 72.9% received no comments from anyone except the author, while only 3.8% drew at least ten outside comments. The visible comment count can be misleading because authors often comment on their own submissions. Among entries linking to the maker’s own site or GitHub, those with at least two of three features - over 500 characters of explanation, a number in the title, and first-person wording - reached ten comments 7.4% of the time, versus 2.8% with none. Longer descriptions were the strongest individual signal: 5.3% reached ten comments, compared with 2.7% of entries without description. Numbers and first-person titles were also associated with more responses; links to an own domain and GitHub performed similarly.

Authors who replied within an hour after receiving an early comment saw higher rates of substantial discussion: 19.9% reached ten comments, versus 12.3% when the author did not reply. The combined advantage was larger when early replies coincided with two or more of the three title-and-description traits, though active discussion may itself prompt authors to respond. Day, time, title length, and phrases such as “open source” or “free” showed no reliable effect. The findings describe associations, not causes; they exclude submissions removed by moderation or flags, and the rise in engagement after Hacker News restrictions on new accounts cannot be attributed to those restrictions alone.