Ask HN: Down-voted comments

#1

Post by Maven911 » Sat, Jul 17, 2010, 3:49 PM UTC

Has anyone noticed that lately if you comment with an idea/thought that is not in-line with the majority crowd, it will get down-voted immediately ?

Maybe it's just me, but I use to remember a time when opinions from both sides of the table were respected and appreciated.

This might just be conjecture, but could this be the warning signs of YC news starting to become reddit ?

Re: Ask HN: Down-voted comments

#2

Post by jmount » Sat, Jul 17, 2010, 4:13 PM UTC

Sometimes things go well and sometimes poorly on the voting. A common pattern on Hacker News is: first you think Hacker News is great, then you thing it is turning into Reddit and then you think it is great again. The different impressions may depend on if you visit the main feed page or visit the newest links page (and how often you do that).

Re: Ask HN: Down-voted comments

#3

Post by mikecane » Sat, Jul 17, 2010, 4:20 PM UTC

I don't worry about my comments getting down-voted. It has happened and I figure, Eh, screw you for not getting it. Just ignore it and move on.

Re: Ask HN: Down-voted comments

#4

Post by mfukar » Sat, Jul 17, 2010, 4:32 PM UTC

Majority can do that; there are also comments which are full of misinformation and wild assumptions, yet get upvoted like crazy because of their "tone". I hate it, but it's not my pathology.

Re: Ask HN: Down-voted comments

#5

Post by Jake541 » Sat, Jul 17, 2010, 4:33 PM UTC

mikecane wrote: post #3

I don't worry about my comments getting down-voted. It has happened and I figure, Eh, screw you for not getting it. Just ignore it and move on.

The problem with ignoring it is that HN turns into Reddit. It's good to stay mindful of why we're here.

Re: Ask HN: Down-voted comments

#6

Post by binspace » Sat, Jul 17, 2010, 4:38 PM UTC

I suppose the downvotes in this thread is for irony's sake.

Re: Ask HN: Down-voted comments

#7

Post by Ardit20 » Sat, Jul 17, 2010, 4:38 PM UTC

I think perhaps the place has become too big and certain common assumptions or implied conventions, etc, are not as widely understood or known any longer. Thus, people down-vote for whatever reason they wish.

Perhaps PG should write down some guidelines in regards to comments.

Also, why can we not down-vote stories?

Re: Ask HN: Down-voted comments

#8

Post by ecaron » Sat, Jul 17, 2010, 4:39 PM UTC

Do you have any specific threads to point to where you're experiencing this? I actually find that a lot of my comments get upvoted when they're out-of-line with the majority, but provide good counter-arguments. (I find that in-line-with-majority comments get overlooked.) So, if you'd share some examples, that'd really help for backing/refuting your conjecture.

Looking at the threads you've been downvoted for (http://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=Maven911), I'd say you feel this way out of spite but the downvotes are reasonable given your comments are neither insightful nor are they informative - merely speculative with a side of passive-aggressive and needless sarcasm.

Re: Ask HN: Down-voted comments

#9

Post by sounddust » Sat, Jul 17, 2010, 4:40 PM UTC

In my experience, if a good comment that is "not in-line with the majority crowd" gets downvoted, it will bounce back up quickly. On the other hand, poor-quality comments stay voted down over time.

Re: Ask HN: Down-voted comments

#10

Post by RossM » Sat, Jul 17, 2010, 4:43 PM UTC

Jake541 wrote: post #5

mikecane wrote: post #3

I don't worry about my comments getting down-voted. It has happened and I figure, Eh, screw you for not getting it. Just ignore it and move on.

The problem with ignoring it is that HN turns into Reddit. It's good to stay mindful of why we're here.

With /r/programming quickly becoming a mirror of HN I've reason to believe it is just redditors coming to HN. This in turn is leading to more joke/pun comments (something I haven't seen on HN in a long time) and the more liberal applying of downmods.

Edit: I say "quickly becoming", it's been like that for a while actually.