Ask HN: What are your thought on online communities using shadow banning?

It's extremely useful to isolate people from the wider community, and if you do it properly it's not detectable. It definitely has its place, but it's just a tool and can be misused like any other tool.

If you get a guy creepily flirting with every female that signs up and making them leave the site, hide his comments on profiles of females he's not friends with, if you've got a spammer that is trying to give away 'free trump gear', then make their posts only visible to them, if you've got a group trying to police your site by looking for 'socks' just make all their posts invisible to other members etc.

Straight up banning people only works as a last resort, they'll trash your network to anyone who listens, or worse set up a rival etc.

Easily circumvented if you care. Call them out on it if you do. First and foremost, don't be a dick.

Shadowbanning is reasonable and appropriate against bots, but a massive dick move when applied to humans.

I think it's insulting (not just to the one shadow banned) and high handed.

Just grow some balls and publicly ban people.