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Show HN: Hacker News em dash user leaderboard pre-ChatGPT

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358 points tkgally | 3 comments | 30 Aug 25 03:40 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source

The use of the em dash (—) now raises suspicions that a text might have been AI-generated. Inspired by a suggestion from dang [1], I created a leaderboard of HN users according to how many of their posts before November 30, 2022—that is, before the release of ChatGPT—contained em dashes. Dang himself comes in number 2—by a very slim margin.

Credit to Claude Code for showing me how to search the HN database through Google BigQuery and for writing the HTML for the leaderboard.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45053933

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Freak_NL ◴[30 Aug 25 09:21 UTC] No.45073216[source]▶
Heh. A top 50. No way that I'm in there — I don't post that much.

Oh look, a more complete leaderbord — click.

Oh. I'm at position 51.

replies(1): >>45073723 #
bobwaycott ◴[30 Aug 25 11:21 UTC] No.45073723[source]▶
Had the same thought. I don’t show up on this leaderboard, but I’m #42 on the “more complete” leaderboard. I’m #8 when sorting by max in a single comment—which makes even me think I may have overdone it. Finally—HN top 50 and top 10 in something I love!
replies(1): >>45074894 #
1. stavros ◴[30 Aug 25 14:18 UTC] No.45074894[source]▶
Alas, this is one I have no hope to be included in. I've never typed an em/endash in my life.
replies(1): >>45075017 #
2. bobwaycott ◴[30 Aug 25 14:33 UTC] No.45075017[source]▶
It’s never too late to start. ;)
replies(1): >>45075142 #
3. stavros ◴[30 Aug 25 14:50 UTC] No.45075142[source]▶
Ah, I'm afraid it is — you can't teach an old dog new tricks.