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Ask HN: Please restrict new accounts from posting

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ask HN: Please restrict new accounts from posting

#391

Post by gorgoiler »

dang wrote: post #347
magicalhippo wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that we might lose some gold. Not too seldom have I seen the author or a significant party of a story chime in through a fresh green account, as they were alerted by the story being posted here one way or another. And usually when they do it's very interesting. As such I would find it detrimental if they had to jump through too many hoops so they don't bother or it takes too long so the thread dies bef…

Indeed. Here is a recent litmus test: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47051852 . How can we filter the lightweight stuff while still benefiting from posts like these? (a bit more about this at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47056384 , with a reply from the OP)

I have often heard that vote rigging is detectable on HN because the site software penalizes voting from accounts at the same IP address.

Rumor had it that there is also some kind of social-network metric detecting when socially adjacent accounts (or alts) are engaged in astroturfing, the practice where a small cabal tries to pass themselves off as a broader grassroots campaign.

Flip that around though and the same metrics might allow new accounts to be meaningfully vouched for by existing ones.

Re: Ask HN: Please restrict new accounts from posting

#392

Post by Razengan »

BalinKing wrote: post #7

I furthermore wish that "posting an LLM-generated comment (i.e. and passing it off as your own)" was worthy of an instant ban, because I see this sort of behavior from non-green accounts as well. EDIT: I meant (but totally forgot) to qualify that my "proposal" would only apply when the LLM-ness is self-obvious—idk, make up a "reasonable person" standard or something. Presumably, the moderators would err on the side o…

How ironic, a comment advocating for banning LLM comments using em dashes

What if someone used an LLM to just translate?

Re: Ask HN: Please restrict new accounts from posting

#393

Post by wizardforhire »

dang wrote: post #347
magicalhippo wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that we might lose some gold. Not too seldom have I seen the author or a significant party of a story chime in through a fresh green account, as they were alerted by the story being posted here one way or another. And usually when they do it's very interesting. As such I would find it detrimental if they had to jump through too many hoops so they don't bother or it takes too long so the thread dies bef…

Indeed. Here is a recent litmus test: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47051852 . How can we filter the lightweight stuff while still benefiting from posts like these? (a bit more about this at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47056384 , with a reply from the OP)

Just sharing observations it may help, it may not…

what I’m seeing is new or sleeper accounts that have been idle for over a decade with low (Like many here, I don’t wish to limit new users, but this does seem from my armchair perspective to be a pattern to be on the look out for.

Re: Ask HN: Please restrict new accounts from posting

#394

Post by ddingus »

mastazi wrote: post #336
trinsic2 wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the right people will stick around. There is a certain kind of indivudal that has the paitence to understand that a system that restricts new accounts from post is a good thing. Of recent, there have been a lot of posters that come here from the open web just to try and slant opinion.

But sticking around doesn't solve the scenario mentioned by parent. 1. some interesting projects gets to HN main page 2. author of the project is not on HN so creates a green account and interacts even if that person would have the patience to stick around, by the time they would be able to respond, it would be too late for it to be relevant to the (now stale) discussion.

These are some of the best interactions we have here.

For sure a problem worth considering.

I can't think of anything easy...

Only even remotely sensible thought I have at present:

We add a check box to replies created by new accounts. Maybe created by all accounts?

The prompt reads something to the effect of: I am mentioned in the article. And then they get to say how.

-This is my project -I am mentioned by name -Etc...

Whatever it is they wrote, appears somehow, maybe as a required line or something.

Others can see that and either flag the account or vouch.

This at least some what distributes the required attention load.

That said, I don't like it. Have nothing better, so here it is!

Then others seeing that

Re: Ask HN: Please restrict new accounts from posting

#395

Post by qingcharles »

mastazi wrote: post #336
trinsic2 wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the right people will stick around. There is a certain kind of indivudal that has the paitence to understand that a system that restricts new accounts from post is a good thing. Of recent, there have been a lot of posters that come here from the open web just to try and slant opinion.

But sticking around doesn't solve the scenario mentioned by parent. 1. some interesting projects gets to HN main page 2. author of the project is not on HN so creates a green account and interacts even if that person would have the patience to stick around, by the time they would be able to respond, it would be too late for it to be relevant to the (now stale) discussion.

This is one of the best things about HN. The sheer number of times someone has posted a link and the author or someone significant to the project deep within some megacorp makes a green account and starts answering questions that you never thought would get answered. Some of the most golden replies come from greenies.

Re: Ask HN: Please restrict new accounts from posting

#396

Post by TZubiri »

mosura wrote: post #136
TZubiri wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>will be based almost entirely on trust networks Like Facebook/Linkedin?

Not close. Both those mistake knowing for trusting.

I'd say that they don't make trust decisions, rather they give information to the user so that they can decide whether to trust and for what purpose.

Linkedin more so than facebook, facebook shows list of common contacts, linkedin shows that plus a literal resume.

Re: Ask HN: Please restrict new accounts from posting

#397

Post by heavyset_go »

tombert wrote: post #322
alabhyajindal wrote: post #37

100%. Not sure what the solution is but I have lost interest in Show HNs these days. Part of it is because when someone posted before, it usually meant they spent a fair amount of time thinking, and found it worthwhile to spend energy on the project. This was a nice first filter for bad ideas and now no longer exists. Even for posts that are interesting to me, I get the feeling that it's not worth looking at because…

I certainly hope they do something. I'm not opposed to AI automating away stuff no one liked doing, or even more utilitarian things in general, but robots posting on social media and discussion sites seems antithetical. I don't know what the point of talking to a robot would be when I could talk to Claude if I wanted to do that. I'm not even 100% sure why people are doing Show HN for low-effort stuff shit that was do…

> I'm not even 100% sure why people are doing Show HN for low-effort stuff shit that was done in 45 minutes in Claude. I guess it's trying to resume-pad or build a brand or something?

Github star farming, SEO, etc

Re: Ask HN: Please restrict new accounts from posting

#398

Post by ryandrake »

heavyset_go wrote: post #389
localuser13 wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With enough layers you will also weed out almost all of the good actors. Normal people are busy and don't have time nor patience to jump over too many hoops to promote their cool new research, or to respond in a thread where someone linked it.

Reddit has more friction to sign up or post while new or low karma. The main subreddits will basically shadowban you until your account is aged and has more than X karma.

This is why I don’t create a Reddit account or post there: there are so many rules that dissuade new accounts. I don’t even bother to try.

Re: Ask HN: Please restrict new accounts from posting

#399

Post by qingcharles »

heavyset_go wrote: post #389
localuser13 wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With enough layers you will also weed out almost all of the good actors. Normal people are busy and don't have time nor patience to jump over too many hoops to promote their cool new research, or to respond in a thread where someone linked it.

Reddit has more friction to sign up or post while new or low karma. The main subreddits will basically shadowban you until your account is aged and has more than X karma.

Which in itself is annoying, IMO. It creates a whole separate set of problems. You need karma, so people post in karma-farming subs to get a few crumbs. Then you get auto-banned from a dozen of the top subreddits preemptively for farming.

Reddit hasn't been as overrun by bots yet, for the most part, although how long they can hold out I don't know.

Re: Ask HN: Please restrict new accounts from posting

#400

Post by qingcharles »

ryandrake wrote: post #398
heavyset_go wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reddit has more friction to sign up or post while new or low karma. The main subreddits will basically shadowban you until your account is aged and has more than X karma.

This is why I don’t create a Reddit account or post there: there are so many rules that dissuade new accounts. I don’t even bother to try.

Reddit is fantastic, to me. It's worth the struggle to get past the initial bullshit.

There are a lot of flaws, though. Their appeal system is very broken, for instance.

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