Show HN: Hacker News, but every headline is hysterical clickbait
55 comments
·December 19, 2025eatbitseveryday
Perhaps we need one that does the opposite, for the real site
Tepix
Hey, wait a minute. I think we got something here! What we need is the reverse, i.e. a LLM that recognizes clickbait and "tames" it (ideally by providing the information in the headline, like Techmeme does [kudos to them]).
prox
https://www.bullshitremover.com/
I have a lot of fun with this.
gpderetta
it is not very good at removing nonsense from OP's page :(.
poulpy123
There is a browser extension that does it for YouTube (but crowdsourced)
password4321
This is a great idea: applying LLMs for the benefit of those I care about against the armies of tech company PhD's working to capture their attention.
Actually worth a shot, thanks!
2026iknewit
I had another idea about the same topic a few weeks ago: Creating a news side which uses the clickbait strategy to only share positive news or mentaly opening up news:
“They Said Immigration Was a Crisis — Then THIS Happened to Jobs, Growth, and Local Communities”
“Everyone Expected Chaos… Instead This City Welcomed Newcomers and Its Economy EXPLODED”
“Doctors, Teachers, Builders: The ‘Immigration Problem’ Quietly Fixed a Problem No One Talks About”
“This ‘Risky’ Policy Was Supposed to Fail — Now Other Countries Are Rushing to Copy It”
“From ‘Unmanageable’ to Unstoppable: How One Tough Challenge Became a Surprising Success Story”
TomWhitwell
This is exactly what Upworthy did - they invented some of the clickbait headline formats that are still used today (for less positive news) https://web.archive.org/web/20231114181702/https://www.fastc...
bryanhogan
This is amazing
Edit: Just found out HN deletes emojis!
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On a more serious note, it's a bit sad how close this is to actual algorithm-driven social media or news-based platforms.
dkdcio
> algorithm-driven
hackernews is algorithm-driven too; the difference is incentives (namely paid ads)
nottorp
Click to find out how much my blood pressure went up when reading this!
noosphr
This feels like a 6/10 on the scale of hysterical clickbait headlines I see on YouTube.
Cthulhu_
...GONE SEXUAL!
But more seriously, get off youtube or curate your stream if this is a common thing. I thankfully don't get it much myself.
keepamovin
Please help us improve it.
Oras
Could be renamed HNX as these are the posts I see trending on X (twitter)
netsharc
Breaking: Huffington Post buys Hacker News.
At least the HuffPo of the last decade was like this. They haven't been relevant for many years it seems.
As to its founder: http://www.thestacksreader.com/the-many-faces-of-arianna/
keepamovin
I felt the front page was too calm. I fixed it. YOU WON'T BELIEVE NUMBER 4.
Prompt: Remember this classic? <snip ... Hacker News 10 Years in Future > OK, i have a new idea. want to try? "Offtopic but this title makes me want to create an alternate-universe version of the HN front page where every title is shrill/spectacular/hysterical/urgent/clickbaity. Such as: The Absolute State of the Kernel Rust Experiment Right Now And every comment has its confidence/aggressiveness taken up to 11 (tho still within site rules)." And the HN front page right now is: <snip>
CamelCaseName
I love it, this is great. Thanks for posting!
debo_
> MATHEMATICS IS BROKEN (Until Now): Go From Zero to QED or Go Home
If my mathematics degree had been framed this way, I probably would have enjoyed it more.
null
debo_
WORK FOR GODS
wkjagt
I don't always like HN titles but this made me realize it can be a whole lot worse. Thanks for this.
adlpz
I felt literal pain. Not kidding.
There's something to investigate here.
Made me notice I'm actually exposed to very similar crap on other places. Scary.
alphadelphi
yes, the good news is that once recognized the pattern we can work in the opposite direction
My favorite so far is “Delty (YC X25) Is Hiring and You Probably Aren't Qualified”.