Have you been having issues with too much spammy activity (besides me? 8^D)? What badge/limit/permission implementaion have you seen on other sites that you like? That might be the first step to setting up a good model. I don't think I have a preference one way or another, but don't mind helping you talk through it if you need.

We recently had a case where a user created a couple fake accounts and upvoted most of his pages. I need to restrict this. In regard to posting, there is a certain motivation to post when you know you earned the privilege.

Sounds restrictive. Don't crack down on the users, crack down on the real problem; spam bots.

Social Networking with a restriction on the "social" is contradictory.

Mainly I'd like to gamify the site, so the goal is to make posting fun and rewarding.

Gamifying the site by restricting privileges doesn't seem that fun. :/

For somebody just starting out it's fun to have a sense of progress. In your case you'd probably already have most of this unlocked at your current point level.

Yes, but this doesn't feel like the best way to go about implementing that.

These are only a couple early unlockables. I have plans to implement some that aren't available yet such as theme customization, down voting, flagging, etc.

On a side note: You might check your email notification system. I've gotten three notification emails now that have empty bodies. They just come with a header, and title.

@Sorasyn Thank you, I tried to update the email earlier, but I think I may have broken it. What email client are you using?

The mailbox is Yahoo, although they get picked up and downloaded to my iPhone's Mail application.

@Sorasyn How are the emails now? I just made some adjustments.

It's working now.

Back to the permission system. I'm looking at it from a psychological perspective. When you put some effort into earning something you appreciate and respect it more. Also, knowing you have an exclusive right to do something makes you more likely to do it to express your authority. For example you cannot comment on Product Hunt when you create an account. You need an invite to comment. Once you've earned it you feel compelled to use this earned right. The same can be said about certain privileges at StackOverflow. There is a psychological aspect to all of this.

Yes but you've also said it yourself, Hawkee is a Social Network. When was the last time you saw a social networking site that you had to earn the right to post more than once per day, and the right to like more than three things per day? It seems like you're trying to use gamify mechanics as a way to combat spam. A flagging system would be more than sufficient combined with tightened security on account creation to keep the site relatively manageable -- where that's concerned.

I agree about the psychological quality. I still maintain that something along the lines of badges, or accolades would be a good and well form of gamifying the site -- while maintaining the fun and freedom.

No. Just.....No. bad idea. :P