I think the current system makes people reluctant to giving honest opinions, but changing it wouldn't have much effect, as people are already used to social media.
Ask HN: Would it be nice to know who upvoted you?
11–20 of 25 posts
Re: Ask HN: Would it be nice to know who upvoted you?
#12well you could use to make a fake account and then post only statements inline with a particular political/ideological opinion and use that over time to compute who supports those particular positions. When it comes to controversial issues this might not be a good thing.
Re: Ask HN: Would it be nice to know who upvoted you?
#13I believe the core characteristics of HN audience is to treat:
- Your Karma
- The Upvotes
- The Downvotes etc
as a means to an end and not an end in itself.
Most of us here are for getting balanced perspectives, sharing knowledge on diverse topics and growing smarter/wiser as a community, not just an individual. So no, I do not see any value in finding out who upvoted/downvoted me. Anonymous is the right choice!
Re: Ask HN: Would it be nice to know who upvoted you?
#14> Would it be nice to know who upvoted you?
No. Bad idea IMHO.
> So, would you be okay if I saw that you upvoted a comment of mine?
Please note this is a entirely different question. But still: no, it wouldn't be OK.
I fail to see how what you suggest could improve in any way the quality of the discussions.
It seems it would be an invitation to a "us-vs-them" attitude and other ad-hominem pseudo-reasonning.
One of the best parts of HN is that discussions are focused on ideas, and not on the people expressing these ideas.
Re: Ask HN: Would it be nice to know who upvoted you?
#15i'm not here to get karma.
if you agree upvote this!
Re: Ask HN: Would it be nice to know who upvoted you?
#16No. I would however like to see downvotes come with a justification. I don't care who votes but it would be good to know what the reasoning for a downvote was. Up and down are not opposites in this context,
Re: Ask HN: Would it be nice to know who upvoted you?
#17It's amusing that people act like HN isn't social media. If anything I wish they'd just allow you to not be able to see your score when you're logged in.
Re: Ask HN: Would it be nice to know who upvoted you?
#18i'm not here to get karma. if you agree upvote this!
And then share it with 3 friends?
Re: Ask HN: Would it be nice to know who upvoted you?
#19Nope. I deal with enough social crap as is. This would be another element of social crap making my life harder.
Re: Ask HN: Would it be nice to know who upvoted you?
#20I'm not on social media for a reason, that kind of features is part of the reasons I stay away from them. So no. If someone really wants to engage with me, they can leave a comment... that I will see or not.
But HN is social media, i.e. a website that would be/do nothing without other people on it also. (I hadn't really thought about that before seeing the books/talks of Clay Shirky, all excellent.)