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Ask HN: What happens when a new user's submission disappears?

2•ursAxZA•4h ago
My account is 8 days old and I submitted a link earlier today.

For the first few hours everything looked normal at first — the discussion page existed, and the submission appeared in my profile.

A few hours later, the discussion page disappeared. When I log out, the submission no longer appears in my profile at all.

There was no “dead” flag or moderation notice — it simply vanished.

─── ─── ───

Also, when I’m logged in I still see all five of my submissions, but when I log out only four appear. The missing one is exactly the link that disappeared. If this is just a display quirk on my side and others can still see it, apologies in advance — I may simply be misunderstanding how submissions behave for new users.

The post itself was harmless (an educational piece about a visualization method for helping children understand multiplication), so I’m trying to figure out whether this is normal behavior for new accounts or a sign that the submission was auto-filtered.

───────── ─── ─── ─── ─────────

So I’d like to ask:

• Is it common for low-karma, new accounts to have submissions silently filtered out?

• Do certain titles or post formats trigger automated removal?

• Could I have unknowingly violated a guideline?

And related to that:

• Is it acceptable to repost later with a different title?

• Or is there a recommended way to avoid triggering filters as a new user?

• Would this type of post have been better as a “Show HN”?

───────── ─── ─── ─── ─────────

I’m not trying to game karma — just trying to understand how HN handles new-user submissions so I can avoid repeating the same mistake.

If this is expected behavior, I’d appreciate any insight into the underlying heuristics.

If this question itself violates any norms, please let me know — I’m still learning how HN works.

Thanks.

Comments

steerpike•3h ago
If you join HN and immediately start posting links to your own site you'll almost certainly be flagged by users.
ursAxZA•3h ago
Thanks for the reply — I might have explained the situation poorly.

Out of my five submissions, two are Ask HN posts (including this one), and two are links to my own writing. All four of those behaved normally, so I assumed self-links were fine.

The third link — also to my own article — is the only one that disappeared.

If all self-links were filtered, I would understand. What confused me is that the first two stayed visible without any issues, but the third one vanished a few hours after posting.

So I’m just trying to understand why only one of them triggered the filter.

ursAxZA•2h ago
Just a quick update:

My submission is visible again now.

Thanks for taking the time to reply — appreciate it. Hope you have a good day.

gnabgib•3h ago
You have violated a guideline:

> Please don't use HN primarily for promotion. It's ok to post your own stuff part of the time, but the primary use of the site should be for curiosity.

And again with this submission:

> Please don't post on HN to ask or tell us something. Send it to hn@ycombinator.com.

.. perhaps you could give them a read?

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

mtmail•3h ago
> Is it common for low-karma, new accounts to have submissions silently filtered out?

Yes. I don't know the exact thresholds. Usually needs an old account to click 'vouch'. These days there's often too many submissions in one hour and not enough users browsing /new to look for interesting content. I clicked 'vouch' now.

> Do certain titles or post formats trigger automated removal?

Duplicates (same title, same URL) I think, obvious spam, some domains are blocked automatically. I don't see anything applying to your submissions.

> Could I have unknowingly violated a guideline?

Not sure. Maybe submission too many new stories in the first day. It shouldn't matter.

> Would this type of post have been better as a “Show HN”?

Show HN is usually for things one can try in their browser or on their computer, something interactive. Sometimes a video qualifies because it shows what a user would see. Long content, blog posts usually don't qualify. https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html

> I’m still learning how HN works

10 years in, I'm still learning, too. The algorithms change.

ursAxZA•2h ago
Thanks for the detailed reply — that really helps.

>Usually needs an old account to click 'vouch'.

Good to know that silent filtering for new accounts does happen and that it often depends on someone vouching. I appreciate you doing that.

>Sometimes a video qualifies because it shows what a user would see.

The word “visual” in my post may have caused a misunderstanding: it wasn’t a video or anything interactive, just a notation/diagram for explaining multiplication — a written article using a visualization model (the “ container” idea) to help children understand multiplication.

─── ─── ───

I also didn’t realize that Show HN is specifically for interactive software (or things users can try directly). That saves me from misusing the tag — I appreciate it.

And the explanation about how filters behave for new accounts was really helpful. Your comment made the system a lot clearer.

Thanks again for taking the time.

ursAxZA•2h ago
Quick update:

My submission is now visible again even when I'm logged out. Maybe it was your vouch, or maybe others also checked it — either way, it's showing up normally now.

Thanks again for the help. Much appreciated, and hope you have a good day.

Norman Podhoretz, 1930-2025

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