HACKER Q&A
📣 RjQoLCOSwiIKfpm

Why are 5 comments/day “posting too fast”, what precisely is “too fast”?


Notice: I have used the search function and read ALL results, none contains a precise definition of what "too fast" is. Some suggest emailing HN, but I do not have an email address anymore (because they all want phone numbers nowadays).

I've posted a total of merely 5 comments today, and have not posted a thread at all.

The last comment was over 2 hours ago.

Yet I couldn't post another reply, HN told me "You're posting too fast. Please slow down. Thanks.".

So what is "too fast" precisely?

Why is the timeout so long?

And 5 comments in a single day does seem reasonable, why did I get a timeout anyway?

I have personal obligations, it's really stressful for me to keep what I wanted to say on my mind for hours and keep trying to post it again until it works :| So it would be very useful to know when I can post it so I can schedule this and be done with it :)

Side node:

I know these timeouts are a policy decision to keep people from posting angry things. Have you considered the possibility that people might get even more vile if they feel like their opinion is being suppressed for arbitrary reasons? Because such a timeout script cannot take into account whether what the person is trying to say is right or wrong, it punishes everyone the same for trying to participate. And arbitrary judgements which are not by any means related to what actually happened are anger-inducing, it could push some people over the edge of not caring for good faith discussion anymore.

As an example, in this case the large timeout of over an hour and the anger induced by that made me wonder whether it was even a script, or rather a manual action because the HN moderation team could have some sort of agenda against the (IMHO factual!) statements which I posted. Inducing such distrust does not seem beneficial to the community :|

As an alternative to strict timeouts, I would suggest just showing a confirmation check: "You have replied just N minutes ago. Are you sure you're not being angry here and want to post this? Please type 'I am NOT angry, please post this' into the below box to confirm."

  👤 dang Accepted Answer ✓
Your account is rate limited. We rate limit accounts when they post too many low-quality comments too quickly and/or get involved in flamewars.

I'm sorry, I know it's annoying, but it's one of the few (crude) software tools we have to try to dampen the decline of the site. We want thoughtful, curious conversation here, and value quality over quantity in all things.

It's on my list to build a more probation-style system that gives people feedback about how long they're in the bad-dog-box for, and tries to explain which guidelines they've been breaking. I recognize that the current system is limited and when you say it makes you angry, I get it. I'd feel angry too.

I guess in our defense I'd plead that it's almost impossible to keep this place from collapsing, we don't really know how to do what we need to do, the pressures are enormous, and we're limited in resources. (That's mostly my fault, by the way—not YC's—but that's another story.)

👤 bell-cot
My guess - the "too fast" is for activity from your IP # or block, not for activity from your account. But the error message was never updated to reflect the actual code.

Generic advice: Unless you have a paid account, or are officially representing your company, it is usually better to not become too emotionally invested in any on-line forum. HN included.

👤 mulmen
If you felt you needed to post this question you should step away from the site and maybe the internet. HN posts aren’t important. None of this matters. Take care of yourself.
👤 goostavos
>Have you considered the possibility that people might get even more vile if they feel like their opinion is being suppressed for arbitrary reasons?

Imma go out on a limb and wager that the person who feels that way should probably step away from the comment box for a bit.

We're all just chatGPT bots anyways.

👤 ddevault
The exact rate limit, to my understanding, is tuned by the moderators. So one of them presumably thought you were making some inflammatory comments and made a conscious choice to slow you down. Reach out to hn@ycombinator.com to find out more and make an appeal.
👤 ratg13
>I know these timeouts are a policy decision to keep people from posting angry things

You assume this is the case, but really it's likely more just to prevent people from trying to dominate the conversation.

There's not that many posts or comments on HN (compared to other "social media"), so it's good to let other people to have a chance to chime in, instead of just railroading other participants.

If your comments have merit other people should be able to support your argument. You don't need to be a one man information army.

👤 Overtonwindow
I think some accounts get flagged for whatever reason and it's used as a punishment. If you create a new account from Tor the problem doesn't replicate so... Go figure.
👤 quadcore
My guess is that it varies according to the load. Another guess is that the gpt4 thread is draining right now. Disclaimer: just guesses.
👤 baremetal
>Have you considered the possibility that people might get even more vile if they feel like their opinion is being suppressed for arbitrary reasons?

Sometimes it is a good thing to be slowed down. Gives time to consider ones position, and intention for posting.

I would say that it would be the exact wrong response to get upset at them rate limiting you.

👤 avgcorrection
ddevault is correct. Normal users don’t have a limit. Certainly not five posts a day.

Some mod has put restrictions on your account.

👤 johnea
There are many forms of comment repression in the HN comments...

I think each post should go at the top of the comments.

When you write a comment, and it appears after 400 other comments, they might as well not publish it at all...