Simply put, don’t do it. For those of you who've been doing it the past, we know who you are, and we've contacted a lot of you already. For those we haven’t -- please consider this your one and only warning. Questions, concerns? Drop them in here and I’ll try my best to answer them ASAP.
What we consider cheating:
- As a person, if you’re up/down voting a select piece of content (photo, video, news article, thread, post, etc) more than once. For example, if you give something a downvote, don’t log onto your alias/company account and give it a second downvote.
- Unfair downvoting. For example, downvoting content just to get yours ahead.
- Voting rings. For example, don't create a private cult which goal is to simply upvote each others content.
- Using voting services or software.
- And last but not least, anything we decide is cheating is cheating.
The process we use to find you consist of:
- Multiple automated checks of all uploaded content.
- Manual checks of the day’s top content (photo, video, and news).
- If something is flagged, we do a thorough investigation and gather infallible proof before making a final decision.
Why you shouldn't cheat:
- It’s wrong. We’re not going to go into too much detail about this point, because we feel like most of you are intelligent enough to understand that defrauding the system is wrong -- whether you're doing it for internet fame, monetary purposes, or just to screw over someone you don’t like.
- Everyone benefits from an honest system. Whether you're uploading or consuming content, everyone will benefit from a better Newschoolers.
- You’ll get caught. And we consider this the worst possible offense on Newschoolers.
What happens when you’re caught:
- We’ll nuke your ratings, permaban your aliases, and hit you with a 30+ day IP ban
- Harsher (including legal) consequences will be dished out if the situation warrants it.
How to get your content on the homepage, without cheating:
- Upload quality content & fill in descriptions.
- Share your content. Share it with your friends and family. Share it on all your social media profiles. This is absolutely the best way to help get your content upvotes.
- If you see a piece of content you enjoy, give it an upvote. The more people embracing the rating system, the better.
