You are right of course, but I suspect the vast majority of HN users are not only in the USA but specifically in California. So even though people are using the site around the clock, there is probably a lot more traffic during the "awake hours" of California.

> I suspect the vast majority of HN users are not only in the USA but specifically in California

I suspect that you have a nonstandard definition of "vast majority." I'd be surprised if even 1/4 of HN users are in California. There's a whole wide world out there! :)

Although my Hacker Newsletter stats could be completely different than HN, it is a subset of HN users so it might be relevant - California averages around 20% of my opens and the USA about 70% of the total.

Edit: Just to add to this - New York and Massachusetts are the next highest and combined make up about the same as California.

Yes and when somebody in France makes a French equivalent of Le Hacker News, and a bunch of Americans start posting there, in second language French, then the "host country" readers can make the same geo assumption in reverse. ;)

25% of a website's userbase being located in one state of one country is a "vast majority" on the Internet, it having a far higher HN'er/population ratio then any other state or country.

To be pedantic, the definition of majority is half the group, and 'vast' implies upwards of 70%.

You probably mean something like a "large plurality"