I'm just going to keep linking to past discussions apparently. What Hubski can learn from "old-timey" forums So this amazing post by doesntgolf had so many good talking points but this one specifically got a lot of discussion going: Responses: The other day, mk made it so that users that haven't completed a hubwheel can only send a single PM every 10 minutes, which I think is great. Similarly, I think it'd be great if new users couldn't submit a new post until they've commented 10 (or 25 or some other amount) of times.
It's my opinion that restricting someone's ability to post until they've commented is a bad idea. Some of my favorite content on the site comes from users that rarely comment. For instance, scrimetime. -The guy might as well have been born a mute, he rarely comments but the links he posts are quality and I can usually count on them to be something I'd like to share. -There's a lot of value in that.
-thenewgreen I think this is a fantastic idea right off the bat. Now I'm going to go try and think up reasons why it sucks, but it feels so right to me. (EDIT: Already found good counterpoints in the discussion. Still digging the idea though)
-ecib4. To the extent we can get away with it, I'd rather not decide how people use the site, but let the users decide who to follow and share, or ignore.
-mkNew users limits No opinion on this, as I have no idea what new user misbehaviour is like. What I would say thought is that currently, while operating from a fairly tight member base, the balance should be tipped towards encouraging new users rather than freezing them out.
-istaraThis is the point I disagree most in your list of propositions. I remember when i first signed up, i actually posted links BEFORE commenting, but the comments and reactions to what I posted led me to stay. Many users rarely or even never comment, but post great links. So if i'm a new user and REALLY want to post something, I'll probably type out 10 low quality comments just to be able to post... Which will actually decrease the overall quality of Hubski since the main appeal are the thoughtful comments.
-elizabeth
Okay, interesting. What I'm saying though, is that the idea I came up with in thirty seconds of thinking that probably isn't very good is better than the alternative (kb's idea) in my opinion. His feels too much like sneaky shadowbanning. I'd prefer to be up-front with new users if we actually go through with something like a time-sensitive posting block.
This is an interesting way of looking at it and I don't agree or disagree. In fact, I'm still out on whether or not kb's idea is good or bad. It isn't transparent but it's also not global in the sense that any one person or persons has control over the global feed. It would be a way for a single user to edit what is shown in their global feed in that moment. If done as a toggle, it would be less powerful that ignoring a user as it would act more like a filter than an action you take against people. The thing that bothers me most about not allowing new users to post, and maybe this is just me, is that forums have done that. They've also shown on every thread how long a user has been around, given them titles for being around longer and being more active. But when you join a new forum, you can't do shit, you feel like a n00b, and, if the forum has been around for a while, there is no way you can ever compete with the top users who have been around forever. By nature, humans are competitive and when I see "most amazing user ever. 5838392 karma. joined 1029 days ago. ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆" it makes me want to make my numbers bigger. But I can't. And that inspires hopelessness and makes it more likely that I won't even stick around and comment and post because there's no way I can ever catch up. By not showing these things next to every users post/comment, it doesn't inspire that competitiveness/hopelessness and I think people are more likely to stick around become part of the community. I may be wrong, but there are a couple forums that I really could've liked but just didn't feel like spending the energy trying to get to a point where I had enough shit not to be seen as a n00b. I also never want Hubski to feel unwelcoming to new users. Ever.His feels too much like sneaky shadowbanning.
elizabeths reply at the bottom is spot on. People will comment meaningless drivel to get to the ability to post. Spot on. It's the beginning of the end if we ever implement such a thing.