I have noticed users plugging their projects in a new and bad way. Historically users would reference their software project only when it is directly relevant to the conversation. The project reference would commonly sit as a URL in a footer citation. These comments were informative without citations, and allow a reader to opt-in to further information discovery. This post structure resulted in reader control over exposure to self-promotion.

Contrast this to the recent trend of dropping in-line references to project names. I have observed that, more often than not, the post would be just as (in)valuable without the reference. HN has been refuge in an ad-centric internet. Seemingly minor decisions, such as guidelines for acceptable self-promotion, will keep it a refuge.