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It seems a lot of people don't know how to find out whether they're shadowbanned, or how to get out of the HN purgatory if they are. I can see the value of this

It seems a lot of people don't know how to find out whether they're shadowbanned, or how to get out of the HN purgatory if they are. I can see the value of this post. I've tweeted a few people before to let them know of their fate when their comment history didn't seem worthy of a ban and I think in all cases I've had to point out that an email needs to be sent to have the ban looked at.

bdehaaff 13y ago
You are more kind than most. I think the cruel part is that everything appears normal - but your are totally invisible. Google analytics was key to seeing an issue immediately.
- ag80 13y ago
  >...I think the cruel part is that everything appears normal - but your are totally invisible... Indeed. I cannot for the life of me understand the logic behind this behavior. If you've been banned or had a comment killed, it would be a basic courtesy to provide some sort of notification/reason in your profile.
- benaiah 13y ago
  ag80, you appear to be hellbanned (ironically enough). Couldn't tell why from a glance at your commment history.
  - ag80 13y ago
    Indeed, I was. An apparent false spam positive from my lone submission.
- ancarda 13y ago
  ag80: That's one of the motivations behind lobsters. I think if HN were a little more transparent, it would mitigate the cold feeling of being hell banned. When I thought I had been shadow banned, it was like being banished from the internet. It really felt horrible. Knowing that I'd have gotten a warning/notification means if the site is slow, I'd brush it off as high latency. Now every time the site is a little slow, I panic and think I've been slow banned.
  - kintamanimatt 13y ago
    You can always just look at your comment history while you're logged out. If things are missing, you've been shadowbanned.
    - ancarda 13y ago
      I just realized I meant to say "slow banned".
hamburglar 13y ago
> It seems a lot of people don't know how to find out whether they're shadowbanned, or how to get out of the HN purgatory if they are. Agreed, and as others mention, a little more transparency would be nice. When I signed up, I think I posted less than 10 comments, all perfectly civil and in-line, before someone informed me I appeared to be hellbanned (and was kind enough to comment on it and say they looked at my comment history and didn't see any reason). I don't know what heuristic I triggered or if it was simply a mistake, but my initial reaction was that banning was so arbitrary and capricious around here that I almost just shrugged and said, "ok, whatever, I'm not particularly invested in this site," and left. Instead I emailed info@ycombinator.com to ask why I was hellbanned, and I never got a response, but soon afterwards, the ban was lifted. I still have no idea what happened, and although I seem to have managed to find the right tone for comment threads, the machinations of the site and its rules remain shadowy and cryptic, so I have no idea if I'm eventually going to be banned again. Edit: haha, I just went back and looked, and it was you who was so kind. Thanks, parent! :)
- kintamanimatt 13y ago
  Oh yeah, it was too! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4244627 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4244627 No problem at all!

bdehaaff 13y ago

You are more kind than most. I think the cruel part is that everything appears normal - but your are totally invisible. Google analytics was key to seeing an issue immediately.

ag80 13y ago
>...I think the cruel part is that everything appears normal - but your are totally invisible... Indeed. I cannot for the life of me understand the logic behind this behavior. If you've been banned or had a comment killed, it would be a basic courtesy to provide some sort of notification/reason in your profile.
benaiah 13y ago
ag80, you appear to be hellbanned (ironically enough). Couldn't tell why from a glance at your commment history.
- ag80 13y ago
  Indeed, I was. An apparent false spam positive from my lone submission.
ancarda 13y ago
ag80: That's one of the motivations behind lobsters. I think if HN were a little more transparent, it would mitigate the cold feeling of being hell banned. When I thought I had been shadow banned, it was like being banished from the internet. It really felt horrible. Knowing that I'd have gotten a warning/notification means if the site is slow, I'd brush it off as high latency. Now every time the site is a little slow, I panic and think I've been slow banned.
- kintamanimatt 13y ago
  You can always just look at your comment history while you're logged out. If things are missing, you've been shadowbanned.
  - ancarda 13y ago
    I just realized I meant to say "slow banned".

hamburglar 13y ago

> It seems a lot of people don't know how to find out whether they're shadowbanned, or how to get out of the HN purgatory if they are. Agreed, and as others mention, a little more transparency would be nice. When I signed up, I think I posted less than 10 comments, all perfectly civil and in-line, before someone informed me I appeared to be hellbanned (and was kind enough to comment on it and say they looked at my comment history and didn't see any reason). I don't know what heuristic I triggered or if it was simply a mistake, but my initial reaction was that banning was so arbitrary and capricious around here that I almost just shrugged and said, "ok, whatever, I'm not particularly invested in this site," and left. Instead I emailed info@ycombinator.com to ask why I was hellbanned, and I never got a response, but soon afterwards, the ban was lifted. I still have no idea what happened, and although I seem to have managed to find the right tone for comment threads, the machinations of the site and its rules remain shadowy and cryptic, so I have no idea if I'm eventually going to be banned again. Edit: haha, I just went back and looked, and it was you who was so kind. Thanks, parent! :)

kintamanimatt 13y ago
Oh yeah, it was too! https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4244627 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4244627 No problem at all!