The Second Human Rule

1.a. Second Human Rule

The second human rule was invented by HackerNoon’s CEO and is part of the foundation on which HackerNoon was built.

It is the idea that:

“​​Before publishing something online, a second human should consume the content, confirm it's something that should be distributed, and if possible, improve the content quickly before publishing.”

At HackerNoon every article goes through a second human (who didn’t write it) before publication. The only exception to this rule is those who publish under our verified writer accounts.

Editing Protocol Index:

1. Editing Protocol Overview

   1. Second Human Rule

      1. Verified Writers

   2. Time to Review

2. Standards of Quality

   1. Originality Score
   2. 6 Ws Score
   3. Objectivity in ranked listicles
   4. Unranked listicles
   5. Actionable advice

3. Red Flags

   1. Subject Matter

      1. Subject matter saturation

   2. Plagiarism

   3. Sources and Citations

   4. Formatting is bad or broken

   5. Grammar level: gibberish

   6. Story is Too Short

4. Backlink Rules & Guidelines

   1. Backlink Limits

   2. Backlink quality and diversity

      1. Diversity of sources
      2. Internal linking
      3. Changing links

   3. Reposting and Canonical Linking

      1. Canonical links to company domain
      2. Canonical links to blog networks or social networks