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This sounds like an abuse of the flagging system. Shouldn't users who repeatedly use their flags on legitimate stories like this eventually lose their ability t
by lewisl9029 11y ago
This sounds like an abuse of the flagging system. Shouldn't users who repeatedly use their flags on legitimate stories like this eventually lose their ability to flag?
- hguant 11y agoThe problem is that there is no objective means of determining a "legitimate story". That's why we have votes and flags and whatnot. The assumption is that the community will follow the rules and use those tools to promote "legitimate" content, however, "legitimate" or good is inherently subjective. You can punish people for having an opinion and using the tools provided by the site to express that opinion.
- lewisl9029 11y agoBy legitimate, I meant "not off topic" as defined in the HN guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html The guidelines also state clearly that flagging should only be used for something that is spam or off topic, not for expressing disagreement. And I think users who consistently flag stories about climate change (if such users do in fact exist) are clearly using flags for the latter purpose which it was not intended for, and deserve to be penalized.
- brudgers 11y agoMy understanding based on anecdotal comments over the years is that people who overuse the flag link sometimes see it disappear for a while.