Is asking your friends to vote your HN postings to the front page ok?
blhack: I'd say that for HN, absolutely not.One of the problems that I have with most moderation systems (reddit, digg, HN, etc.) is that everybody has got unlimited mod-power.I can only speak for myself, but when I get slashdot moderator points, I make sure that I use them correctly; it feels like a privilege to get them.Now, I don't think that that is the best way of doing things, but I think it is good.The way I did it on my website (which is small, so I haven't really gotten to see if it works or not) is that you have to earn your mod points by submitting things and then having others upvote them.  Points also expire after 24 hours.  To me, encouraging your friends to upvote your stories is okay with my mod system because if they upvote on thing, it means that they can't upvote another.I guess what I'm saying is yes, it is bad...but only because you don't lose anything by upvoting something.  If mod points were limited, I don't see a problem with it, at least not as much of a problem...it would be a bit like encouraging your friends to use a product that you make, but still charging them for it.(my website is: http://www.gibsonandlily.com if you want to see the mod-system I'm talking about).