4 ms·

Ask HN: why do some non-trollish articles get [dead]ed?

10 points by mariorz 18y ago

I've been seeing more and more [dead]ed stories recently, which don't seem to be spamish or trollish, example: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=276452 Seems strange, what's up?

alex_c 18y ago
I know there is some automatic [dead]ing - I occasionally see [dead] spam submissions that are just a minute old, for example. It's possible that one submission triggered some rule in the filter? (maybe the "crm" in the domain name?)
Alex3917 18y ago
I've had a couple of my own links marked dead recently. It doesn't really bother me, I just submit stuff I find interesting and if the admins want to kill it they kill it.
emmett 18y ago
Editors will also kill straight up dupes of other stories, or things with no intellectual content (like funny pictures, etc.) A lot of it is arbitrary though, obviously.
robg 18y ago
I'm going to guess that if enough people flag something, it automatically goes dead, unless perhaps it's received some threshold of upvoting.
- stcredzero 18y ago
  Is there some gaming of the flag function?
noonespecial 18y ago
I hate when I've commented on something, am being modded up because of my ostensibly good commend, and then the story goes dead....
- cosmo7 18y ago
  Can you imagine what Carl Sagan's karma would be like? It would be through the floor. It would be a disaster. People with genuinely good ideas don't crave approval. Sites like this are fun, but it shouldn't factor into the way you develop opinions, unless you want popular, stupid opinions.
  - noonespecial 18y ago
    Oh, I've posted my share of stinkers. I just meant that just when I think I might have contributed something, the whole thread dies. I don't generally play it for the karma, but its nice to know that someone appreciates what you've said every once in a while.
pg 18y ago
That one got killed automatically because the domain is banned. I think the domain was banned because someone once spammed us with links to it. Another reason non-spam/troll stuff gets killed is because it's a dupe.
- jmatt 18y ago
  Another reason non-spam/troll stuff gets killed is because it's a dupe. It's hard to find dupes when all you have is a link you want to post. For example earlier today: http://www.google.com/search?q=http://www.positech.co.uk/talkingtopirates.html+site:news.ycombinator.com&hl=en http://www.google.com/search?q=http://www.positech.co.uk/tal... returns nothing even though the story is already posted: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=275780 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=275780 Too often the names of the stories alone don't work. Or the name is misleading or otherwise bad. Is there is a better way to see if a dupe already exists?
  - brlewis 18y ago
    No, there's no good way to check for a dupe besides watching all the incoming stories. So don't get offended if your submission gets killed; it's not a mark against you.
- mariorz 18y ago
  OK, thanks. So should we flag other kills like that in the future?

10 points by mariorz 18y ago

I've been seeing more and more [dead]ed stories recently, which don't seem to be spamish or trollish, example: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=276452 Seems strange, what's up?

alex_c 18y ago

I know there is some automatic [dead]ing - I occasionally see [dead] spam submissions that are just a minute old, for example. It's possible that one submission triggered some rule in the filter? (maybe the "crm" in the domain name?)

Alex3917 18y ago

I've had a couple of my own links marked dead recently. It doesn't really bother me, I just submit stuff I find interesting and if the admins want to kill it they kill it.

emmett 18y ago

Editors will also kill straight up dupes of other stories, or things with no intellectual content (like funny pictures, etc.) A lot of it is arbitrary though, obviously.

robg 18y ago

I'm going to guess that if enough people flag something, it automatically goes dead, unless perhaps it's received some threshold of upvoting.

stcredzero 18y ago
Is there some gaming of the flag function?

noonespecial 18y ago

I hate when I've commented on something, am being modded up because of my ostensibly good commend, and then the story goes dead....

cosmo7 18y ago
Can you imagine what Carl Sagan's karma would be like? It would be through the floor. It would be a disaster. People with genuinely good ideas don't crave approval. Sites like this are fun, but it shouldn't factor into the way you develop opinions, unless you want popular, stupid opinions.
- noonespecial 18y ago
  Oh, I've posted my share of stinkers. I just meant that just when I think I might have contributed something, the whole thread dies. I don't generally play it for the karma, but its nice to know that someone appreciates what you've said every once in a while.

pg 18y ago

That one got killed automatically because the domain is banned. I think the domain was banned because someone once spammed us with links to it. Another reason non-spam/troll stuff gets killed is because it's a dupe.

jmatt 18y ago
Another reason non-spam/troll stuff gets killed is because it's a dupe. It's hard to find dupes when all you have is a link you want to post. For example earlier today: http://www.google.com/search?q=http://www.positech.co.uk/talkingtopirates.html+site:news.ycombinator.com&hl=en http://www.google.com/search?q=http://www.positech.co.uk/tal... returns nothing even though the story is already posted: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=275780 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=275780 Too often the names of the stories alone don't work. Or the name is misleading or otherwise bad. Is there is a better way to see if a dupe already exists?
- brlewis 18y ago
  No, there's no good way to check for a dupe besides watching all the incoming stories. So don't get offended if your submission gets killed; it's not a mark against you.
mariorz 18y ago
OK, thanks. So should we flag other kills like that in the future?