I received the following email apparently sent by Repixel's CEO John Evans on the 4th of December. I've already reported it to HN's moderators:
<quote>
Hi Edward,
I noticed you’re a big contributor on Hacker News and I was hoping to get an article seen by the community. Would you be open to taking a look at a piece of my content, and if you find it interesting, consider posting it? I would do it myself but I think your karma points would give it an extra push. Happy to return the favor if there’s anything I can do for you in return!
Best,
John
</quote>
I'd have concerns about this firm's services, practices, and ethics.
Ah sorry about that! I was having trouble getting my articles seen so I figured reaching out to a handful of power users with more karma points (like you!) would help. In my defense, this is best practice in other forums like Product Hunt so I thought reaching out respectfully would be okay here too. And I saw no asking for upvotes/comments in the forum guidelines but didn't see anything against asking for a submission :)
In any event, my apologies again for the troubles. I have ironed this out with the moderator (who has adjusted the guidelines) and I've paused my emailing. I wasn't aware of the rule, but I am now.
I'm new here so not trying to start an argument. But hopefully where I'm coming from makes sense. Reaching out simply felt logical to me, not unethical.
<quote>
Hi Edward,
I noticed you’re a big contributor on Hacker News and I was hoping to get an article seen by the community. Would you be open to taking a look at a piece of my content, and if you find it interesting, consider posting it? I would do it myself but I think your karma points would give it an extra push. Happy to return the favor if there’s anything I can do for you in return!
Best, John
</quote>
I'd have concerns about this firm's services, practices, and ethics.