

Ask HN: should new accounts really be able to submit stories? - arkitaip

It seems to me that the vast majority of spam on hn.newest is submitted through newly created user accounts. Many online communities, e.g. Metafilter, prevents new accounts from submitting stories to prevent spam. I think HN should implement something similar. Exactly how many days someone has to wait can be discussed, but I'm thinking anything from 1-2 weeks. This also gives people enough time to know the dynamics and rules of HN and to settle in, which I think will create a better community and submissions.
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Khao
I don't think this is a necessity. I strongly believe that for any community
to be successfull you always have to put user experience first and not being
able to post for a few weeks is really not a good first impression. It's
basically saying "Thanks for joining the community, but we don't really want
you anyway".

I think the way we report spam by flagging submissions as spam is how it is
meant to be, sure you do get the occasional spam but they never last long
because people flag them. This also makes sure the community "watches" over
the content and is more user friendly than just pissing off newcomers. I think
a lot of people are lurkers and at one point they really want to submit
something and it's at that moment that they create an account (you don't
really need an account to lurk do you?) so if this rule would be applied it
would really suck for those long time lurkers but new account guys.

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mooism2
We already get spammers who wait a week before posting under their new
account, to avoid having their username appear in green. I don't see that
_forcing_ them to wait will actually cut down on spam that much.

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grecy
If a system like this was to be implemented, maybe a certain amount of karma
could be required before posting is allowed. (Even a small amount like 10
points will stop a lot of new people, or those who don't actually read
articles and comment)

~~~
mooism2
It would also stop people who read stories and comments but don't comment
themselves.

It could cause spammers to leave spam comments instead of submitting spam
links.

