> <i>It is common practice to give yourself a few upvotes in the early minutes after a post so we did. [...] Then however, we made a rookie mistake.</i><p>Perhaps it's useful in other sites, but each site has it's own uses and customs. I'll quote partially a few comments from dang (read the complete version in the links):<p>* <i>Sockpuppet votes and comments aren't allowed on HN. [...]— it's bad for HN and gets accounts flagged and/or banned.</i> <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9672368" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9672368</a><p>* <i>We ban sites for repeated sockpuppet voting.</i> <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9834751" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9834751</a><p>* <i>Votes and comments for promotional reasons are against HN's rules and tend to get accounts and sites banned.</i> <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9853578" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9853578</a>