I get rate limited on mobile all the time. It doesn’t mean anything.

_ofdw · on Feb 15, 2022

I'm under the impression that rate-limiting is manually applied by the moderators on a per-user basis.

*edit: Ironically I've been rate limited and can't continue this conversation, lmao

edanm · on Feb 15, 2022

What gives you that impression? If we're talking about the same thing, rate limiting occurs when you post multiple comments right after each other. It will usually make you wait a minute before the next post.

This doesn't happen to me often, but does happen when I comment in rapid succession.

PhantomGremlin · on Feb 15, 2022

rate-limiting is manually applied by the moderators

Given:

1) HN was started by / is moderated by "computer nerds" (IMO you're hardcore if you write it in lisp)

2) 'dang' is the only acknowledged public moderator (some small? number of additional secret moderators also exist)

It follows that:

It's difficult and doesn’t scale to "manually" apply rate limiting. Most / all such action is highly automated.

At least that's my wild, possibly way-off-base guess.

octoberfranklin · on Feb 15, 2022

It is really sad that our knowledge of these policies is limited to guesses and rumors, and that there is no public log of moderation actions.

labster · on Feb 15, 2022

Honest question: why is it sad? There’s another thread[0] going on here right now about how human processes shouldn’t manage pathological cases with policy and procedure. Moderation is all about pathological and edge cases. Mod actions that work on some users every time may not work at all on others. I don’t believe treating us all the same is the best way to get quality discussion, and transparency is not an end in itself outside of government.

So how… how would a moderation log and strict policies make HN a better place?

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30340588