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Ask HN: should new accounts really be able to submit stories?
It seems to me that the vast majority of spam on hn.newest is submitted through newly created user accounts. Many online communities, e.g. Metafilter, prevents new accounts from submitting stories to prevent spam. I think HN should implement something similar. Exactly how many days someone has to wait can be discussed, but I'm thinking anything from 1-2 weeks. This also gives people enough time to know the dynamics and rules of HN and to settle in, which I think will create a better community and submissions.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- Khao 15y agoI don't think this is a necessity. I strongly believe that for any community to be successfull you always have to put user experience first and not being able to post for a few weeks is really not a good first impression. It's basically saying "Thanks for joining the community, but we don't really want you anyway". I think the way we report spam by flagging submissions as spam is how it is meant to be, sure you do get the occasional spam but they never last long because people flag them. This also makes sure the community "watches" over the content and is more user friendly than just pissing off newcomers. I think a lot of people are lurkers and at one point they really want to submit something and it's at that moment that they create an account (you don't really need an account to lurk do you?) so if this rule would be applied it would really suck for those long time lurkers but new account guys.
- mooism2 15y agoWe already get spammers who wait a week before posting under their new account, to avoid having their username appear in green. I don't see that forcing them to wait will actually cut down on spam that much.
- grecy 15y agoIf a system like this was to be implemented, maybe a certain amount of karma could be required before posting is allowed. (Even a small amount like 10 points will stop a lot of new people, or those who don't actually read articles and comment)
- mooism2 15y agoIt would also stop people who read stories and comments but don't comment themselves. It could cause spammers to leave spam comments instead of submitting spam links.