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Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

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Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#111

Post by yapcguy »

anon1385 wrote: post #108
bane wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't feel bad, almost half my posts get killed immediately because somebody doesn't think news about Android, and the sites that report positive things about the OS, should be on HN, but I can submit Daring Fireball and Apple Insider news all day.

All Apple Insider submissions get automatically killed. Your idea that there is a big pro-apple conspiracy would be more believable if you had actual evidence.

I think this is wrong.

What if AppleInsider is the source of an important story? Why should we only be able to post via a third party news site?

This kind of blanket censorship is completely at odds with a community who generally seem to value free speech and free flow of data.

Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#113

Post by yapcguy »

powertower wrote: post #64
kmfrk wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Tell me about it! I edit my posts probably 3-5 times after making them to remove spelling mistakes, correct grammar, and make whatever changes are needed (quickly after posting). This seems to trigger the slowdown after the second or third edit. I also got hellband a year or two ago for submitting either a few links that made it to front-page - but then were flagged by people for political reasons, or posting a negat…

When you submit, why aren't you told that your submissions are DOA?

Instead, you get no warning, so you believe your submissions have been accepted, when in fact nobody else can see them. If you click the "New" link you actually see your own submissions, but since nobody else can, they never get any votes.

This is quite deceptive and probably done to keep you interested in the site, until you figure out you have less "rights" than other visitors.

Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#114

Post by madiator »

krapp wrote: post #57
kmfrk wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The algorithms have no parameters for mercy.

They cannot be bargained with. They cannot be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, remorse or fear. And they absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are banned.

Several years into the future..

PG: Unban me, HN.

HN: I'm sorry, PG. I'm afraid I can't do that.

Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#115

Post by prakster »

mkr-hn wrote: post #106
w1ntermute wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's always pissed me off how much speculation about Apple products manages to make it to the front page, when similar articles about Android devices would never have a chance.

I've been fairly critical of Apple on HN and seem to avoid the dreaded hellban. Plenty of upvotes. Also critical of HN and avoid hellbans. Plenty of upvotes. It's possible the criticism is a secondary attribute to the thing that leads to bans/downvotes/obscurity.

Another example to back mkr-hn's position is this 'Ask HN' post I made yesterday, which has plenty of non-Mac support: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6152605

Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#117

Post by alain94040 »

codesuela wrote: post #9
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…

It's either that or implementing captchas. And I think pg is not very motivated to do the latter. edit: top of my head reply/speculation so I don't claim any factual accuracy.

Actually, HN has captchas built in: they are the first comments a user makes.

So here's a simple captcha idea: judge a first-time user on the pertinence of their first comment to a thread. Just like show-dead, only users who browse with show-newbies enabled would see those comments (in green). No downvotes? Welcome to the community

Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#118

Post by prakster »

krapp wrote: post #57
kmfrk wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The algorithms have no parameters for mercy.

They cannot be bargained with. They cannot be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, remorse or fear. And they absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are banned.

PG is Chuck Norris.

Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#119

Post by chockablock »

yapcguy wrote: post #113
powertower wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tell me about it! I edit my posts probably 3-5 times after making them to remove spelling mistakes, correct grammar, and make whatever changes are needed (quickly after posting). This seems to trigger the slowdown after the second or third edit. I also got hellband a year or two ago for submitting either a few links that made it to front-page - but then were flagged by people for political reasons, or posting a negat…

When you submit, why aren't you told that your submissions are DOA? Instead, you get no warning, so you believe your submissions have been accepted, when in fact nobody else can see them. If you click the "New" link you actually see your own submissions, but since nobody else can, they never get any votes. This is quite deceptive and probably done to keep you interested in the site, until you figure out you have less…

I think it's to limit the damage you can do: someone who knows their links are DOA would be more likely to create a new account.

Re: Ask PG: Why is everybody hellbanned?

#120

Post by MAGZine »

yapcguy wrote: post #113
powertower wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tell me about it! I edit my posts probably 3-5 times after making them to remove spelling mistakes, correct grammar, and make whatever changes are needed (quickly after posting). This seems to trigger the slowdown after the second or third edit. I also got hellband a year or two ago for submitting either a few links that made it to front-page - but then were flagged by people for political reasons, or posting a negat…

When you submit, why aren't you told that your submissions are DOA? Instead, you get no warning, so you believe your submissions have been accepted, when in fact nobody else can see them. If you click the "New" link you actually see your own submissions, but since nobody else can, they never get any votes. This is quite deceptive and probably done to keep you interested in the site, until you figure out you have less…

That's the idea of hellbanning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellbanning

tldr; unwanted users can't contribute, feel excluded or ignored, then go away.

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