[johnsonjo]

I don't really have much beef with your comment as it has pretty substantive points, but I just wanted to remind and let everybody know about a Hacker News guideline outlined on their guidelines under the comments section. Sorry, I just recently re-read the guidelines, so I thought I might point others to it too. I honestly believe there are a lot more people breaking all these guidelines on this site, so the whole thing is a good read for anyone uninformed, and yes there are definitely more egregious breakages of guidelines elsewhere.

> Please don't comment on whether someone read an article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to "The article mentions that". [1]

I just mainly brought this one up, because I see it come up often, and because I didn't even notice it was really a violation until I reread the guidelines the other day.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html#comments

[meiraleal]

> Please don't post insinuations about astroturfing, shilling, brigading, foreign agents, and the like. It degrades discussion and is usually mistaken. If you're worried about abuse, email [e-mail] and we'll look at the data.

Please don't break the guidelines while?

[dang]

johnsonjo's post was fine. It's perfectly ok for users to remind each other of the HN guidelines, as long as they do so respectfully.

The parent comment didn't make any insinuations about astroturfing etc., so it didn't break the guideline you quoted. The phrase "if you're worried about abuse" is scoped to that form of abuse—we don't want users accusing each other of being shills and whatnot, but if people are worried that actual astroturfing or shillage is going on, they're welcome to email and we'll be happy to take a look.

I hope that is clear!

[johnsonjo]

I’m genuinely curious on whether this is an insinuation on me breaking that rule you posted in my previous comment or towards the general public.

If anyone can clarify what is meant by the above comment then I will gladly fix whatever I’m doing wrong. I’m just unsure (a) whether I’ve done something wrong and (b) what part of that statement I did wrong.

[meiraleal]

Profiling individuals or taking on a moderator's role in discussions also goes against HN guidelines. It's more effective to DM moderators and keep the thread focused on constructive discussions.

[johnsonjo]

Makes sense. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll ask a moderator if they’ll answer and if you’re correct then I will not do it again. I was simply trying to be helpful.

[dang]

You didn't do anything wrong.