

Tell HN: Flagging Works Best against Spam If More Participants Flag - tokenadult

I notice that the new page in general, and the noobstories page in particular, are full of spam. Experienced members of the community know what spam posts look like. (They are largely what shows up on the new page if you turn showdead on in your user profile.) Users who have accummulated enough karma can flag spam posts. Flagging more spam posts sooner clears cruft off the new page and helps users find good new submissions to promote to the main page with upvotes. Otherwise, new submissions, however good, are easily lost in the flood of spam on the new page. The noobstories view of HN is a quick way to see new submissions by newly created accounts, which, alas, are often spam. A few flags a day keeps the spam away. Sufficient flags on a new submission without comments from other participants autokills the submission, I'm pretty sure.
======
genieyclo
I used to do this for a long while, it's the main reason I have showdead on.
I'd periodically check /newest and noobstories and noobcomments for spammy or
otherwise harmful posts to flag.

Yet I recently lost my flagging privileges, probably because I flagged the
entire front page on Steve Jobs day.

~~~
tokenadult
My condolences on losing your flagging privileges, which I hope are eventually
restored, but I wouldn't flag an actual news submission of interest to
hackers, even if I find the topic over-submitted. I try to save flagging for
blatant spam, of which there is plenty on the new page, and articles that fit
the guideline that stories on politics or crime are not to be submitted if
they are already adequately covered on the TV news. Steve Jobs is already
mostly off the HN front page.

<http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html>

------
arkitaip
I flag spam posts on a daily basis but the lack of feedback - is the system
automated or are there mods? - is disappointed as there is no way to know if
I'm making a meaningful contribution or just wasting time.

Also, I would like to suggest that in order to submit a story, your account
has to have a certain amount of karma and be at least x days old.

~~~
Joakal
I've heard that it's YC alumni + YC company themselves that moderate. The
moderation tends to be more subtle. eg ghostbans as a way to combat spam.

