| 1 | # Morbo's History |
| 2 | |
| 3 | ## Core Context |
| 4 | - **Project:** SquadScope (https://github.com/jmservera/SquadScope) — weekly editorial trend analysis of GitHub repos + tech press correlation |
| 5 | - **User:** jmservera |
| 6 | - **Created:** 2026-05-25 |
| 7 | - **Stack:** Hugo static site deployed to GitHub Pages, custom design system in progress (Calculon's redesign — Phase 1 tokens shipped in #181, Phase 2 header/footer in flight as #171) |
| 8 | - **Live URL:** https://jmservera.github.io/SquadScope/ |
| 9 | - **RSS:** https://jmservera.github.io/SquadScope/index.xml |
| 10 | - **Cadence:** Weekly publication (Mondays 08:30 UTC via crawl-and-publish workflow) |
| 11 | |
| 12 | ## Published so far |
| 13 | - W21 2026: "Agent Skills Go Mainstream While Star Farmers Game the Charts" |
| 14 | - W22 2026: "Supply-Chain Scanners, Skills Economies, and GitHub's Star-Farm Flood" |
| 15 | |
| 16 | ## Audience target |
| 17 | - Developers, tech leads, founders, investors who track open-source / AI trends |
| 18 | - Want signal vs noise on GitHub, not just "what's trending" |
| 19 | - Editorial weekly format — like a thoughtful Sunday read |
| 20 | |
| 21 | ## Distribution channels to consider |
| 22 | - Hacker News (Show HN for launch, then regular weekly post when story merits) |
| 23 | - Lobsters |
| 24 | - r/programming, r/dataisbeautiful, r/MachineLearning (where relevant) |
| 25 | - dev.to (full crosspost or summary) |
| 26 | - X / Bluesky / Mastodon thread per article |
| 27 | - LinkedIn (less developer-y but exec readership) |
| 28 | - Weekly newsletter (TBD: ConvertKit / buttondown / hand-rolled) |
| 29 | - GitHub README of SquadScope itself + topic listings |
| 30 | - Submit to "awesome-" lists when relevant (awesome-trending, etc.) |
| 31 | |
| 32 | ## Learnings |
| 33 | |
| 34 | ### Channel Fit Analysis (from #184 distribution strategy) |
| 35 | |
| 36 | **High-priority channels (Week 1-4 focus):** |
| 37 | 1. **Hacker News** — Best fit for SquadScope. Audience values signal/noise distinction and editorial judgment. Expect 30-80 upvotes, 500-2K CTR on launch. Rules: Post Wed/Thu 9:30-10 AM PST; "Show HN" only for launch; regular posts must feel like community contribution, not self-promo. |
| 38 | 2. **Lobsters** — Strong secondary channel. Same audience as HN but smaller (1K-3K impressions). Better for follow-up discussions and niche topics (agent security, supply-chain tooling). Rules: Moderated well; community values depth. |
| 39 | 3. **r/programming** — Third-tier consistency play. Bi-weekly max; respect community rules (no low-effort posts, engage in comments). 2K-8K impressions per post. |
| 40 | |
| 41 | **Medium-priority channels (Week 2-4 expand):** |
| 42 | 4. **Mastodon + Bluesky** — Thread format works well for SquadScope's analytical voice. Smaller absolute reach (300-2K impressions) but high-quality audience (FOSS practitioners, early adopters). Community-building focus over direct CTR. |
| 43 | 5. **dev.to** — Crosspost with canonical URL to HN as primary distribution. Drives SEO juice back to site. 2K-8K impressions, modest but engaged audience. |
| 44 | 6. **LinkedIn** — Broader but lower engagement. Angle toward tech leads + implications for hiring/org planning. 1K-5K impressions. |
| 45 | |
| 46 | **Low-priority channels (defer or seasonal):** |
| 47 | - r/dataisbeautiful, r/MachineLearning: Use selectively when trends are viz-heavy or ML-focused |
| 48 | - Twitter/X: Saturated for trend content; lower signal/noise ratio than HN/Lobsters |
| 49 | - awesome-lists: One-time quarterly submission; high effort-to-reward ratio |
| 50 | - Newsletter (Buttondown): MVP phase; will scale with subscriber base |
| 51 | |
| 52 | ### Community Rules (Non-Obvious) |
| 53 | |
| 54 | **HN-specific:** |
| 55 | - Post title must be neutral + specific ("Agent Skills Go Mainstream..." ✓, "GitHub Trends: You Won't Believe..." ✗) |
| 56 | - Story text should feel like a personal discovery, not a promotional blast |
| 57 | - Avoid posting same article twice in 2 weeks; violates unwritten norm, risks shadowban |
| 58 | - Optimal post time: Wed/Thu 9:30-10:30 AM PST (not Mon morning when everyone is active) |
| 59 | |
| 60 | **Lobsters-specific:** |
| 61 | - Community is smaller, more moderated, more selective |
| 62 | - Self-posts ("I built X") appreciated more than link-shares |
| 63 | - Position as "analysis I wrote exploring GitHub trends" not "my trend service" |
| 64 | - Karma system discourages new accounts from posting; wait until account is 1-2 weeks old before heavy posting |
| 65 | |
| 66 | **Reddit-specific:** |
| 67 | - r/programming auto-removes low-effort posts; must show genuine effort and community value |
| 68 | - Engage in comments; 80% of upvotes come from discussion, not title |
| 69 | - Max 1x per week per subreddit (unwritten rule; mods enforce) |
| 70 | - r/dataisbeautiful has stricter rules: data viz required, text-only analyses get deleted |
| 71 | |
| 72 | **Mastodon/Bluesky-specific:** |
| 73 | - Thread format (5-7 toots) works better than single long-form posts |
| 74 | - Audience skews FOSS + privacy; avoid any mention of VC funding or commercial angle |
| 75 | - No direct link-through expected; focus is community building, not CTR |
| 76 | - Cross-instance federation means broader reach but slower engagement |
| 77 | |
| 78 | ### Effort-to-Reach Ratio & First 4 Weeks Allocation |
| 79 | |
| 80 | Per-week effort: ~40-50 min of focused work (extract angles, draft posts, execute) |
| 81 | |
| 82 | **Week 1 (Launch):** |
| 83 | - Focus: HN "Show HN" post + Mastodon thread |
| 84 | - Secondary: One r/programming post to test |
| 85 | - Effort: ~20 min post drafting + 10 min monitoring |
| 86 | |
| 87 | **Weeks 2-4:** |
| 88 | - Establish cadence: HN (Wed), Mastodon (Mon), r/programming (Tue), LinkedIn (Tue), dev.to (Mon crosspost) |
| 89 | - Add: Lobsters (bi-weekly Fri) |
| 90 | - Monitor: CTR, engagement, sentiment per channel |
| 91 | - Adjust: If any channel underperforms, defer to monthly instead of weekly |
| 92 | |
| 93 | ### Blocking Dependencies |
| 94 | |
| 95 | - SEO metadata audit (#187) must land before Week 1 launch posts go live (OG images need to be correct) |
| 96 | - GA4 (#182, #183) needed for accurate channel attribution by Week 4 |