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Comment by Diederich | Hacker News Reader

Once again, I'm probably breaking the rules.

Consider this person: https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=hestipod

> I made an account just to comment on this issue after lurking for a long time but it's surely just another pointless action because it's the same story over and over. Empathy is not common.

Three (at this time) comments that seem to be very relevant to this topic and discussion, yet all [dead].

> Most people ignore me, some give useless advice that makes them feel like they did something, and nothing changes.

Indeed.

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If the comments are [dead] but not [flagged][dead], the account is banned. If a past commenter has been egregious enough, the mods will ban not only the main account but also put in some checks to prevent a user from creating new accounts to otherwise circumvent the ban--comments from such new accounts are also marked [dead]. As others have pointed out, if the comments are worthwhile, they can be vouched. There are differing opinions on this method of banning, but it does allow comments to be vouched for.

> If the comments are [dead] but not [flagged][dead], the account is banned.

That's not quite right. These comments were killed by anti-spam software. When this happens to legitimate accounts we rely on the community to vouch for them or email us at hn@ycombinator.com.

Cheers. Thanks for filling in the blanks!

(Offtopic) If you click on the comment, there is a [vouch] link to bring certain comments back from the dead.

I find that this is a good balance to keep the well-written comments that add to the discussion and deserve a second chance.

Sure...but my question remains: why were the comments flagged in the first place?

It might be because my account is new...some antispam feature? But I have experienced enough avoidance and disdain irl and online simply for being in this position I wouldn't be surprised if someone flagged me for insulting their political view or something else. If it's the former then no big deal. If it's the latter it's beyond me to affect and my words are just venting for myself rather than changing anything.