There have always been micro-fads on HN. Probably has to do with the karma system. Once something rises into the top 10, you know there's an interest. Give the audience what's hot.
This is basic human nature that we observe everywhere, everyday. News, movies, TV, books, start-ups, etc.
nope, there were microfads on Usenet, where there was no karma. it's just a matter of the medium supporting slow conversations extended across multiple threads. think of this as a single desultory conversation about ocaml; we just had one about bsd and we will have others.
This is basic human nature that we observe everywhere, everyday. News, movies, TV, books, start-ups, etc.