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An example: First alpha release of Python 3.4 is out (python.org) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6155423 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6155423 I

An example: First alpha release of Python 3.4 is out (python.org) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6155423 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6155423 It probably linked to [1], but all we can tell is that it was something at python.org. The post was by plessthanpt05, an HN user for about two years with 838 karma. All of his/her posts from the past year or so are dead (about 60 of them). They don't appear to be a bot. Python 3.4.0a1 isn't something that would interest everyone on HN, but it certainly doesn't seem like the kind of thing that should have been killed. [1] http://python.org/download/releases/3.4.0/ http://python.org/download/releases/3.4.0/ Edit: more details on plessthanpt05

bnr 13y ago
Well, that user also posted over 60 links in the last year, while never receiving a single upvote or comment. I'm not sure why a flesh-and-blood user would still be posting after that.
- Too 13y ago
  Maybe hellbanning adds random upvotes to deceive the poster even further?
- ics 13y ago
  "Saved links" might be one reason. While I wouldn't advocate using HN as a personal bookmark service it does lessen the burn a bit if nobody else comments/votes on it. The good thing is that if you use saved links for that it makes you think twice about what sort of things you should be submitting.
- consz 13y ago
  I posted here for a year after getting hellbanned before realizing. It happens.
  - kefka 13y ago
    On another account, I checked regularly for possible hellban status. Lo and behold, I caught it about 3 days in. Of course, I didn't even use HN for the first of those 2 days. This day, I spend more of my time on subreddits that share HN's enthusiasm and knowledge without the subterfuge of hellbans.
    - Phlarp 13y ago
      Could you elaborate on which subs these are?
- jfriedly 13y ago
  Their posting frequency dropped significantly over the past year, probably as a result of never receiving any upvotes. At the time they were (presumably) hellbanned, they were posting at a rough average of one post per day, and it's much less frequent now. They seem to go for a week or two period in which they'll post several links, then forget about HN for a while. I won't try to defend all of their posts; most of them are things that I don't even find interesting. But it seems that someone basically used banning as a method of cutting down on uninteresting material. That may even be a good way of maintaining the signal-to-noise ratio on HN: if we ban the users that post many uninteresting links then the community won't have to see them. But it wasn't a tactic that I was aware of before today.
jfriedly 13y ago
I can't seem to edit this now, but someone else reposted the link to Python 3.4.0a1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6155530 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6155530 Their submission currently has 34 upvotes.

bnr 13y ago

Well, that user also posted over 60 links in the last year, while never receiving a single upvote or comment. I'm not sure why a flesh-and-blood user would still be posting after that.

Too 13y ago
Maybe hellbanning adds random upvotes to deceive the poster even further?
ics 13y ago
"Saved links" might be one reason. While I wouldn't advocate using HN as a personal bookmark service it does lessen the burn a bit if nobody else comments/votes on it. The good thing is that if you use saved links for that it makes you think twice about what sort of things you should be submitting.
consz 13y ago
I posted here for a year after getting hellbanned before realizing. It happens.
- kefka 13y ago
  On another account, I checked regularly for possible hellban status. Lo and behold, I caught it about 3 days in. Of course, I didn't even use HN for the first of those 2 days. This day, I spend more of my time on subreddits that share HN's enthusiasm and knowledge without the subterfuge of hellbans.
  - Phlarp 13y ago
    Could you elaborate on which subs these are?
jfriedly 13y ago
Their posting frequency dropped significantly over the past year, probably as a result of never receiving any upvotes. At the time they were (presumably) hellbanned, they were posting at a rough average of one post per day, and it's much less frequent now. They seem to go for a week or two period in which they'll post several links, then forget about HN for a while. I won't try to defend all of their posts; most of them are things that I don't even find interesting. But it seems that someone basically used banning as a method of cutting down on uninteresting material. That may even be a good way of maintaining the signal-to-noise ratio on HN: if we ban the users that post many uninteresting links then the community won't have to see them. But it wasn't a tactic that I was aware of before today.

jfriedly 13y ago

I can't seem to edit this now, but someone else reposted the link to Python 3.4.0a1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6155530 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6155530 Their submission currently has 34 upvotes.