FanPost

Throttle Violations - What They Mean to You.



This was written by the Mod over on the Phinsider and I asked for his permission to repost it. I think that it is a good warning to all that link here.


by Mosul_DolFan on Sep 21, 2011 9:01 AM PDT

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Okay, so this isn't a Miami Dolphins story.  But, it is one you might want to read.  This is the story behind throttle violations.  This is how you can be banned from the site (and all of SB Nation), without a moderator doing anything.  It's happened here a few times, most notably to AlejandroN and tusanitunr.  

It's all about links.  If a comment has more than five links, it's automatically flagged by the system as spam.  This flagging is called a "throttle violation."  

The system can, and will, ban you if you keep pressing your luck.  It's automatic, and I can't remove the ban.  The only thing I can do is send an email to SB Nation, and, hopefully, they can get you unlocked (still working on it tuscanitunr).  

So, what's the magic number?  I don't know.  It's when the system feels that you are spamming the site, rather than adding quality to the site, and it does it all on its own.

The added danger here is, apparently it can happen with repeated, quick, Fan Shot postings, as well.  This is what got AlejandroN.  

You get a warning before you get banned.  A little yellow box will pop up and tell you, you are in danger of having this happen to you.  The problem, of course, is we all ignore that little yellow box.  DON'T!  That yellow box is trying to keep you from being banned.

AlejandroN did just as we all would do.  He had a great piece of information he was trying to FanShot.  The system popped up the warning, and he continued to hit submit to get that information on to the site (Paul Soliai received a contract extension).  In ignoring the yellow box, Alejandro fell into a throttle violations ban. Suddenly he was locked out of all SB Nation sites, and every post and comment he has made suddenly vanished.

I am capable of unhiding the posts (which I did), but I can't unban him.  Like I said before, all I can do is send an email and wait.  

If you are using links in your posts, great.  Keep doing it, because links are how all of us stay informed.  But, if that yellow box appears - please pay attention to it. We don't need people getting banned because they added a link to a post.

This is a fan-written post that is in no way affiliated with or related to any of the authors or editors of True Blue LA. The opinions reflected in this post do not necessarily reflect those of True Blue LA, its authors or editors.