[minimaxir]

How do you discourage people, exactly? (genuine question)

Is there a warning on submission that says something like "Please don't ask your friends to upvote your submissions. If you do, your submission may be penalized. The best products stand on their own merits."? If that's the case, then why do you Favorite Tweets from companies begging for upvotes instead of warning them that their behavior is unacceptable?

I personally have received spam asking for Product Hunt upvotes ( http://i.imgur.com/B5hLdYG.png ), and you of all people should be interested in not supporting that.

[rrhoover]

We're updating our FAQ (producthunt.com/about) to be more clear. We're also considering sending an email to makers when they engage in the discussion, recommendations and policies on this topic. Would love to hear if you have more ideas on this.

Also, as I mentioned in this thread a minute ago, I favorite people talking about Product Hunt (and often reply, too) to let them know I'm listening. I don't mean this as a sign of endorsement when people explicitly ask for upvotes, although I understand how this could be interpreted that way.

Ultimately, our goal is to empower the community to surface what they want to see and also encourage thoughtful discussion. Sharing ones post and soliciting conversation is important for the latter, and we're making improvements to our recommendation/invite system so that more people can join the discussion.