HN Explorer

Tell HN: Stop with the ridiculous ban policy.

6 points by notifier ↗ HN
Right now, a user can be banned unilaterally and for no reason by "editors", two-bit jokesters who have the ability to trash user accounts. There is no accountability; people not only are unaware of who has banned them, but they are not informed of the ban-- the messages simply show up "dead" to other users (and appear live to the banned user).

I've had my account trashed by these losers on more than one occasion, often without explanation. It's moronic and an embarrassment to the Hacker News community. That PG allows this behavior shows a failure to properly manage his community.

10 comments

[ 2.8 ms ] story [ 44.3 ms ] thread
antidaily
I thought pg and jl were the only "editors"? no?
awareness
Then I think less of them. The lack of accountability in banning procedure is really shameful, and I've been banned for saying things like that I thought Clojure was better than Arc (although I think Arc is cool).

(I am notifier; I changed accounts in event of ban.)

anigbrowl
I suspect angry demagoguery had more to do with your ban than your choice of platform. Most of the bans I see happen to people who either freak out or post mainly to promote their own blog and make little other contribution. I may bear some responsibility as I visit the new page frequently and don't mind using the flag option.
kasharoo
Anyone know who 'notifier' or 'awareness' are? I can't seem to find those accounts anymore.
rick_2047
Well someone has to break it to you, I figure I will do the dirty work.

"Don't sweat it, not gonna stop".

This "hell-banning" as it is dubbed by HN users, has been going on for as long as anyone can remember. And despite repeated posts like this, there seems to be not a single indication it is ever going to stop.

(They have even put it on the guidelines

Please do not submit posts complaining about posts were killed or comments that were downmodded.)

Well if you look at the flip side of wrong, we do have a right here. This helps keep the community sane, in a harsh and cruel way of course.

awareness
What kind of fucked-up forum community accepts that accounts will routinely be trashed without explanation? Frankly, I find such behavior extremely insulting.
rick_2047
With all due respect sir, try to keep it civil no need to call the community "fucked-up" there are some very intelligent people around.

Also the hell banning comes as a trade off. You want a great community with people talking about cool things then you will have to cope up with this.

I have stated my protests earlier to this "our way,or the high way" attitude but there are somethings you just can't fight which includes what a community, of which you want to be a part of, has jointly selected.

And now I am really interested to know what was your account name before you got banned

awareness
pw0ncakes.

Hell-banning spammers or trolls makes sense. Banning people with 200+ karma without explanation, without warning, when they are not making personal attacks or spamming is inexcusable.

I was once banned (over a year ago) for saying I liked Clojure better than Arc.

Generally, I think the HN community is great, and I bet 90% of the posters here don't know about the forum's management problems, because of the way they're swept under the rug.

starkfist
You didn't get banned about Clojure vs. ARc. You got banned because when you started talking about "casual sex" the editors knew you were the same guy who got his last four accounts banned for talking about the same thing (and harassing other users about it).
ig1
I personally support the banning of posters making ad hominem attacks. Does calling the editors losers add value to your comment or the community ? - no.

You could have made a polite statement on the topic which would have got your point across far better, but rather you decided to make an insulting rant. Purely on the basis of this post it's perfectly understandable why you may have been banned.