Consider giving an explanation for your deletion this time around. "Harry Yudkowsky and the Methods of Postrationality: Chapter One: Em Dashes Colons and Ellipses, Littérateurs Go Wild"

Will_Newsome

My stupid fanfic chapter was banned without explanation so I reposted it; somehow it was at +7 when it was deleted and I think silently deleting upvoted posts is a disservice to LessWrong. I requested that a justification be given in the comments if it were to be deleted again, so LessWrong readers could consider whether or not that justification is aligned with what they want from LessWrong. Also I would like to make clear that this fanfic is primarily a medium for explaining some ideas that people on LessWrong often ask me about; that it is also a lighthearted critique of Yudkowskyanism is secondary, and if need be I will change the premise so that the medium doesn't drown out the message. But really, I wouldn't think a lighthearted parody of a lighthearted parody would cause such offense.

The original post has been unbanned and can be found here, so I've edited this post to just be about the banning.

(Upvoted because transparency is valuable and to be encouraged.)

Will Newsome is a poster with known mental problems and the possibility that he's making fake accounts is one I've considered before.

He almost certainly has or had fake accounts at various times. I think I've even suggested banning him for that violation. That said, Will's claim that he has not upvoted his own posts via sockpuppets is entirely believable. Take action against Will if necessary for whatever other reason (like a track record of active, insane trolling) but if action is taken against him based on the assumption that a positive reception of his contribution must be fake that would be troubling.

and seems like a no-brainer to ban before it happens again.

Making decisions 'no-brainers' is easy if one is willing to disassociate oneself from the consequences.

He almost certainly has or had fake accounts at various times.

I did. I barely used them, and haven't in a long time. I don't see why that is banworthy or even against community norms; my other accounts all have positive karma and good upvote/downvote ratios, and with one minor exception I used them for the obvious non-antisocial reasons. IIRC you accused me of being TillNoonsome et al, which is false; the real person behind those accounts offered to reveal their identity to clear my name, but I declined, 'cuz at that point there wasn't really any need f... (read more)

5Tenoke12y

Fwiw, I am more inclined to believe that he just linked the post to a couple of his friends and/or followers.

16NancyLebovitz12y

It would make sense to me if action were taken against a plague of drunken fan fiction, or possibly after the first half dozen, but the first such rates a warning and discussion, not deletion. For some reason, I'm amused that the karma for this and the original post have converged (54% and 53%).. Maybe LW really does have a group mind.