>I posted the official numbers and report from the BLS but it never caught traction. Same goes for other times I post from the proper source. However, it seems like HN has a bias for WSJ and NYT articles. [...]
Is there a reason why official government reports never catch traction?
Just a theory but titles of threads do matter. I'm not claiming it's the reason in your case but it might be.
- Your previous title with no activity: "BLS Reports 14.7% Unemployment Rate"
- This title that attracted upvotes: "April Unemployment Rate Rose to a Record 14.7%"
Your title's matter-of-fact tone is clinical and missing the impact of the 14.7%? Hmmm... the 14.7%... so... is that a lot or a little?
The phrase "rose to a record" is immediate spoonfeeding of the impact to potential readers.
Good newspapers like WSJ, NYT, Buzzfeed, etc know how to craft titles to get readers to click on them. This is often abused and thus disparaged as SEO/clickbait. In this case, providing a little bit of a statistic's impact could be helpful.
Just a theory but titles of threads do matter. I'm not claiming it's the reason in your case but it might be.
- Your previous title with no activity: "BLS Reports 14.7% Unemployment Rate"
- This title that attracted upvotes: "April Unemployment Rate Rose to a Record 14.7%"
Your title's matter-of-fact tone is clinical and missing the impact of the 14.7%? Hmmm... the 14.7%... so... is that a lot or a little?
The phrase "rose to a record" is immediate spoonfeeding of the impact to potential readers.
Good newspapers like WSJ, NYT, Buzzfeed, etc know how to craft titles to get readers to click on them. This is often abused and thus disparaged as SEO/clickbait. In this case, providing a little bit of a statistic's impact could be helpful.