

Ask HN: Is this normal for Reddit – ban after 5 posts in 5 months? - tsenkov

4 of these posts were about an app I am developing (https:&#x2F;&#x2F;pagehopapp.com).<p>They were all submitted in the appropriate places - r&#x2F;macapps and r&#x2F;mac (no duplicates).<p>Why would they shadowban me?<p>The first time I tried using reddit I&#x27;ve made the mistake of submitting the same thing in 2 sub-reddits and I got shadowbanned. I tried apologizing but there was no answer.<p>I just made another account, read all guides and tried to play nice.<p>Is this normal for Reddit? So if you are a content creator - &quot;don&#x27;t share your stuff&quot; is what I am supposed to take out of this action?<p>That sucks...<p>Edit: @benologist has educated me in reddiquette - reddit users should post at least 90% links that don&#x27;t belong to them. https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=9123751
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benologist
Reddit has a policy on submitting your own content that insists users who
submit their own stuff spend 90% of their time being a legitimate reddit user
and 10% on self-promotion.

Sub-reddits also have additional rules that must be met, and these can be
enforced automatically like karma requirements or age of account that will
auto-kill your submissions if you fail to qualify.

[http://www.reddit.com/wiki/selfpromotion](http://www.reddit.com/wiki/selfpromotion)

[http://www.reddit.com/wiki/faq#wiki_what_constitutes_spam.3F](http://www.reddit.com/wiki/faq#wiki_what_constitutes_spam.3F)

Your takeaway really should be to be a legitimate reddit user, or don't submit
your links.

~~~
tsenkov
So let me get this straight - a reddit user is someone who should primarily
post other people's stuff?

And if he/she is a content creator and want to post anything of his/her own,
he/she should post at least 9 times more content belonging to others, first?

That's messed up, but thanks for clarifying this one for me.

~~~
benologist
It's not about submitting 9 other links for every 1 of your own, it's about
being part of their community or not. Being a legitimate reddit user instead
of someone preying on them.

You are a legitimate HN user. It is not hard.

~~~
tsenkov
benologist, I don't want to argue with you. Thanks for letting me know of the
rule, which I wasn't aware of.

~~~
benologist
I don't meant to argue, just trying to explain the rules aren't as simple as
meeting a quota. For instance if you submit 90 links to <random big
subreddits> and 10 links to yourwebsite.com in <onespecificsubreddit> that
subreddit may consider you to be spamming _them_.

I could no longer work within the 90/10 rule, it is just not appealing to me
to use reddit that much right now although in the past I have helped moderate
some of the largest subreddits and submitted many things I have created.

They have advertising you can use instead, you can target subreddits as well:

[http://www.reddit.com/advertising](http://www.reddit.com/advertising)

~~~
tsenkov
So did I understand correctly - you too are not happy with the 9/1 rule?

~~~
benologist
I support the rule because it keeps out the spammers. They have given you two
official ways to try and reach their community, if that is important to you
then be an active user or pay a few bucks.

~~~
tsenkov
When a rule does so much damage, no matter how much good it does - it's wrong
to enforce it.

No it doesn't keep out the spammers - they are only becoming legitimate (after
they pay) and more aggressive in their campaign.

I am not a spammer and I take it as an insult to be called one - I don't get
paid to post all day long about someone else's product. I am posting my own
work - ONCE, EVERY COUPLE OF MONTHS, after much work and new content.

I am not trying to stick a banner at someone's face for as long as they are on
reddit or anywhere else, I am simply posting the news of something, which I
guess will be useful to some of reddit's auditory. They can buy a license,
indeed, but that's completely up to them - my app has unlimited, fully
functional, free evaluation.

You talk about a community - a community that not only doesn't invite content
creators, but banishes them. This is not the type of community I would want to
be a part of.

Now, since I wasn't direct-enough the last time I said I don't want to argue
with you - I don't care what you have to say next, simply because I am sure
you will not convince me in something different than what I already believe.

~~~
benologist
I am not and have not called you a spammer. It is up to you to obey their
rules or not, the people who circumvent their rules are called spammers by
everyone.

------
detaro
r/macapps says "Be sure to double-check that your app hasn't already been
submitted before you submit it!"

Sharing your stuff is fine, only being active posting your links risks being
considered spam. Many subreddits also have automatic systems that hide suspect
content for a mod to check, which can be quite aggressive.

I THINK reddit-global anti-spam deletes your account, so it's probably just
the individual subreddit blocking your newest submission. Their sidebar even
says that they have a spam filter.

~~~
tsenkov
Thanks detaro, I have already spoken with the moderators of /r/mac and they
said it wasn't them - I am shadowbanned.

