This leads inevitably to karma farming bots who upvote each other’s submissions à la Reddit.
It’s a speed bump at best.
It’s a speed bump at best.
Honestly, we don’t really have the same cold start problem that a brand new social media site would. We already have plenty of reputable active users here. So HN could restrict new accounts to only being able to comment initially. As they participate, their comments receive upvotes, allowing them to build up enough karma (even a small amount of 25) which unlocks the ability to upvote, and then, finally, the ability to create posts.
I also don't think it's too unreasonable to ask people to make comments and participate in the community before allowing them to do more.