I've been a lurker for over 5 years and embarrassingly didn't realize there were downvotes on this site. Guess I still don't have enough "Karma" (?) ...
~500 karma is the threshold to downvote.
Ask HN: What kind of a downvoter are you?
41–50 of 100 posts
Re: Ask HN: What kind of a downvoter are you?
#42Can I answer this differently? I virtually always upvote comments, which I see downvoted for expressing an opinion, which is obviously presented in good faith. That's even then the case when I violently disagree with the opinion in question. What's even worse than people downvoting a well reasoned opinion are downvotes for factual statements.
There's a quote attributed to Peter Maurin: "We must make the kind of society where it is easier for people to be good."
I think, in the case of downvotes, it's easy for them to be used for reasons other than their intended purpose because they are the least time consuming way to express displeasure, and there is virtually no downside to using them for that purpose.
It would obviously add complexity to have a separate mechanism for voicing disagreement with an argument presented in good faith. But it might make it easier for people to use downvotes appropriately for cases where the person is not acting in good faith or violating the forum's rules.
Re: Ask HN: What kind of a downvoter are you?
#43[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: What kind of a downvoter are you?
#44Check this: https://idownvotedbecau.se/
Re: Ask HN: What kind of a downvoter are you?
#45I consistently downvote posts talking about voting. I have downvoted what I thought was great posts bcs they ended with a "inb4 incoming downvotes lolz".
Re: Ask HN: What kind of a downvoter are you?
#46I downvote things which are:
- misleading or in bad-faith (straw man arguments, cherry-picking to the point of absurdity)
- obviously designed to cause offence or provocation
- which don't add to conversation ("this", "yeah", "same", etc)
- unconstructively dismissive
If it's something I disagree with but it's a good-faith argument and well written, I just move on.
I know some downvote jokes/puns, but I don't mind them in moderation. I think one needs to read the room before making joke comments though.
Re: Ask HN: What kind of a downvoter are you?
#47An interesting thing about HN downvoting is that it makes the comment disappear (for you) immediately. So downvoting = "I don't want to see/hear this" I sometimes reflexively downvote but when I see the comment collapse, it gives me pause and makes me think about my own motivations - do I really think that comment simply shouldn't appear for me, or do I just disagree with it? Even if I think it's ignorant or badly wr…
This is yours-only collapse [-], not downvote. Downvoting is enabled at 500, afaik, I just upvoted you to 500 for you to see/test it :)
Wow, I had no idea, thanks!
Re: Ask HN: What kind of a downvoter are you?
#48I follow the maxim: “The downvote is not a disagree button.” I don’t downvote differences of opinion.
I downvote trolls and outlandish and objectively false lies (e.g. Bill Gates put microchips in the vaccines). That’s about it. I’m extremely liberal but I don’t downvote conservatives. They are as entitled to their opinion as I am to mine.
Re: Ask HN: What kind of a downvoter are you?
#49FWIW, Paul Graham has commented that using up/down arrows for agreement/disagreement is fine: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=117171 . At the end of the day I think everyone just upvotes comments they like, and downvotes comments they dislike, people just have different reactions to things that impact what "dislike" means to them.
Downvoting because you disagree can't possibly be conducive for quality discussions? I upvote downvoted comments even if I disagree with them. It just needs to be a comment in good faith. I also upvote comments for bookmarking purposes, things that I might come back to someday but probably not.
Re: Ask HN: What kind of a downvoter are you?
#50Downvotes on HN are basically random. I've had well-written comments downvoted into oblivion in threads that also included another comment stating the exact same opinion slightly differently. I've had zingy one-liners upvoted to 100 or so. I've had discussions where the back and forth statements alternated between negative and positive karma. I'm treating it as a study in human behavior around communications. So far…
You really nailed it. I agree 100%. It still riles me, when well reasoned opinions are downvoted. Edited to add: Your comment is a brilliant example and I really don't get why it's downvoted
I was actually half expecting some downvotes and thought it would be a cute bit of post-irony to downvote this to near-background color.