I’ve been pondering a more accurate metric for comparing stories over time. The raw point value doesn’t work as there’s inflation due to a larger user base.

The value needs to be adjusted to factor that in that change. Something like dividing by the sum of all upvotes in some preceding time period.

or rely on HN's own algorithm, duration in which it stayed at the top of the chart?

You don’t want to measure the total number of users, but rather the number of active users. Otherwise agreed.

Does YC publish active users count?

In its absence one can use public metrics like active commenters count.

Maybe also somehow divide by the size of monthly occurring topics like "Who is hiring"?

I’m struggling to figure out why anyone cares.

f"Board of {important_company_at_center_of_major_global_trend} fires CEO suddenly and with prejudice."

Now at 5004.

There isn't really any reason for this except Sam is a YC founder and OpenAI (whose name is a lie because they provide proptietary LLMs) is being hyped in the media.

He is already rich. Getting fired means an early retirement in Bahama.

I think it's also the surprise of how sudden it unfolded before the public's eyes. And that, seemingly in an organisation that's figuratively on top of the world currently, and pushing through.

I would be very surprised if Sam retired now. He is compulsively ambitious, for better or worse.

5581 now. Looks set at #3, as other posts update the story. Aggregate would be #1.