Self-policing, rate limiting online forums

An apparatus comprising a computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for providing notification to a user that when executed by a machine result in at least the following:

• generating an average message rate for messages originated by an active user of a computer-based service;
• assessing user activity based on the average message rate without human intervention;
• and
• providing notification to at least one active user of the computer-based service, without human intervention, of an effect of the average message rate on the active user's privileges in the computer-based service.

A system comprising:

• at least one computer;
• and
• at least one computer-readable medium coupled to the at least one computer having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one computer, cause the at least one computer to perform operations comprising:
• generating an average message rate for messages originated by an active user of a computer-based service;
• assessing user activity based on the average message rate without human intervention;
• and
• providing notification to at least one active user of the computer-based service, without human intervention, of an effect of the average message rate on the active user's privileges in the computer-based service.