

“We posted on Hacker News – and messed up.” (We're sorry) - mikehawkins
http://blog.riddle.com/we-posted-on-hacker-news-and-messed-up/

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gus_massa
> _It is common practice to give yourself a few upvotes in the early minutes
> after a post so we did. [...] Then however, we made a rookie mistake._

Perhaps it's useful in other sites, but each site has it's own uses and
customs. I'll quote partially a few comments from dang (read the complete
version in the links):

* _Sockpuppet votes and comments aren 't allowed on HN. [...]— it's bad for HN and gets accounts flagged and/or banned._ [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9672368](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9672368)

* _We ban sites for repeated sockpuppet voting._ [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9834751](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9834751)

* _Votes and comments for promotional reasons are against HN 's rules and tend to get accounts and sites banned._ [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9853578](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9853578)

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minimaxir
> _It is common practice to give yourself a few upvotes in the early minutes
> after a post so we did._

No it's not. And it doesn't even work.

I would have flagged it if I saw that submission in the Top 5 on the front
page due to suspected manipulation.

~~~
deckar01
Well, from past experience, the difference between my posts drifting into
oblivion with one point and actually gaining traction is soliciting upvotes
through social channels. Not sure about you, but I think most people are more
likely to click a post in the new section if it has 2 or 3 points.

A random button would help with post discovery.

