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Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#22

Post by kmfrk »

eksith wrote: post #6

I'm considered "new" though I've lurked for a while before registering. There are some obvious cases (spamming, trolling, link-bait, off-topic, URL-shortening etc...) that leave little doubt to the reason, but it seems to be fairly well known that in fact no one really knows why some users get hellbanned while others, behaving far more egregiously (precluding above reasons), don't. I found this search enlightening th…

There's also a feature that slows down the site for a user under certain conditions.

It's surreptitious crap like this that makes HN such a pain to use for a lot of us.

Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#23

Post by alan_cx »

northwest wrote: post #2

As a general request, I would welcome more transparency (about how things are handled and what we can and cannot expect from HN). EDIT: I also believe that a lack of it will ultimately lead to HN being replaced by something else.

The whole business of banning from sites in general bothers me. More so with huge sites like FB and Twitter.

These sites like to promote themselves as communities, and to be banned from a community with no explanation, due process or right to appeal is awful. It can literally alter, even ruin lives. This, AFAIK, doesn't happen in the "real" world". I don't see why virtual communities get some sort of impunity.

Personally I think there should be an independent arbitration service which sites should sign up to. IMHO, that would protect both sides. Too often one is at the whim of an individual moderator or admin, rather than a rational considered process. Equally, banned people go off an tell every one they can they got badly treated. Fair arbitration would open it up.

I had one instance. Something want working. I posted in the forum to get help. They blamed my ISP. I contacted the ISP, they blamed the site. I tried to get the two to talk. I got banned. A year later I tried to get re-instated. The person I emailed replied and told me that I wouldn't be, but wouldn't explain why I was initially banned or why I would remain banned. I had now where to go but to simply accept this. Very, very frustrating.

Sorry to say this, and its NOT a reflection of HN or its moderation, but too often I worry that really we are dealing with people who get off on their little domain of power.

Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#25

Post by ig1 »

jlgaddis wrote: post #7

I submitted a link a few days ago about a possible IE 0-day in the wild and it immediately became "[dead]". It's the first submission I've ever made and I haven't, AFAIK, broken any HN rules since I finally created my account (after years of lurking). On a related note, you will be hellbanned if you create an HN account over Tor (even if you "don't do anything wrong"). Considering the recent NSA revelations, I think…

Tor exit nodes have been banned from HN since at least 2011 due to abuse, although they used to be IP blocked rather than hell-banned.

Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#26

Post by ColinWright »

jlgaddis wrote: post #7

I submitted a link a few days ago about a possible IE 0-day in the wild and it immediately became "[dead]". It's the first submission I've ever made and I haven't, AFAIK, broken any HN rules since I finally created my account (after years of lurking). On a related note, you will be hellbanned if you create an HN account over Tor (even if you "don't do anything wrong"). Considering the recent NSA revelations, I think…

Dead on arrival often indicates a link to a banned site - there is a list somewhere ...

Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#27

Post by jfriedly »

An example:

First alpha release of Python 3.4 is out (python.org)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6155423

It probably linked to [1], but all we can tell is that it was something at python.org. The post was by plessthanpt05, an HN user for about two years with 838 karma. All of his/her posts from the past year or so are dead (about 60 of them). They don't appear to be a bot.

Python 3.4.0a1 isn't something that would interest everyone on HN, but it certainly doesn't seem like the kind of thing that should have been killed.

[1] http://python.org/download/releases/3.4.0/

Edit: more details on plessthanpt05

Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#28

Post by ColinWright »

kmfrk wrote: post #22
eksith wrote: post #6

I'm considered "new" though I've lurked for a while before registering. There are some obvious cases (spamming, trolling, link-bait, off-topic, URL-shortening etc...) that leave little doubt to the reason, but it seems to be fairly well known that in fact no one really knows why some users get hellbanned while others, behaving far more egregiously (precluding above reasons), don't. I found this search enlightening th…

There's also a feature that slows down the site for a user under certain conditions. It's surreptitious crap like this that makes HN such a pain to use for a lot of us.

For how long have you run a popular discussion web site, and what measures do you take to reduce the increased snarkiness in extended exchanges? I'd love to hear how you solve the problem.
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