Show HN: I measured the half-life of 41,301 Show HN launches. It's 7 hours
8 hours ago
- #Product Launch
- #Online Communities
- #Data Analysis
- The median Show HN launch gets 2 points and 0 comments, with 61.7% receiving no comments and 78.9% getting one or none.
- The half-life of a launch's comment thread is 7.2 hours; half of all comments arrive before the first workday ends.
- Success in terms of points or comments does not extend the half-life; even top launches decay within similar timeframes.
- By hour 48, 4.2% of comments remain for median launches, with 71% of launches nearly finished; traffic drops faster.
- Launch spikes are brief, so distribution plans should focus on long-term engagement beyond the initial 48-hour window.
- Shipyard is being built as an alternative to HN's ephemeral attention, offering sustained review collection post-launch.