Hacker News Insights research
Hacker News in 2018
The strongest tracked Hacker News title themes in 2018, with annual shares and historical context.
Data through 2026-07-13
This page ranks the tracked topics by their share of retained Hacker News story titles in 2018. It is a full calendar year; topic patterns can overlap and the list is not a taxonomy of every story.
| Rank | Topic | Category | Title share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bitcoin / crypto | Crypto & privacy | 2.089% |
| 2 | AI / LLM | AI | 2.037% |
| 3 | Startups | Meta | 1.280% |
| 4 | Security | Crypto & privacy | 1.270% |
| 5 | Python | Languages | 0.919% |
| 6 | Open source | Meta | 0.880% |
| 7 | JavaScript | Languages | 0.847% |
| 8 | React | Web | 0.752% |
| 9 | Linux | Infra | 0.718% |
| 10 | Privacy | Crypto & privacy | 0.684% |
| 11 | Kubernetes | Infra | 0.462% |
| 12 | Rust | Languages | 0.360% |
Context markers
- 2018-01 — Meltdown / Spectre: CPU speculative-execution flaws disclosed 2018-01.
- 2018-03 — Cambridge Analytica: Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal breaks 2018-03.
- 2018-05 — GDPR takes effect: EU GDPR enforcement begins 2018-05-25 — privacy compliance wave.
- 2018-06 — Microsoft acquires GitHub: MS announces GitHub acquisition 2018-06 (~$7.5B).
- 2018-11 — Crypto winter: BTC slides through 2018; the 'crypto winter' sets in.
Method
Every percentage uses that year's retained story-title count as its denominator. Visit the Attention Lab for 2018 or read the methodology.