Most of the internet is funded by sites desperate for page views. All of the Gawker sites, for example, have content written by content authors who receive most of their pay based on how many views their content gets and fired if they are bad at it. HN is small compared to the real large social news sites like Slashdot and Reddit and Digg, but it is still 10s of thousands of page views if you get on the front page. Many startups are similarly desperate for press or talent so also consider it vital to get their content out there in front of people.