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I ask because following that incident I will no longer be presenting dissenting views here, irrespective of perceived value.
What does HN think about removing downvoting?
I don't know of any definitive cases where someone made a comment that was appropriate, got vast numbers of down-votes, and then got banned because of it. I know of many people who have complained about being banned, only to discover that it wasn't the case.
I do know of many people who present dissenting views, but present them carefully and constructively, and who do not attract down-votes because of their comments. They work hard to get people to think first, and not to react with a jerk of the knee (so to speak). It is possible. I've seen it. It's not easy, and I suspect not everyone can do it.
In short, it's unclear that your beliefs about the situation are accurate - there are many ways to get these things wrong. I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm just saying that your view about down-votes may not be accurate.
And no, I don't think down-votes should be removed, although I frequently don't understand how they are being used.
People don't downvote dissenting views. They downvote comments that lack value to the discussion.
People don't downvote dissenting views. They downvote comments that lack value to the discussion.
If there's a mechanism to indicate a comment is inappropriate, people will use it to indicate disapproval.
If there's no mechanism to indicate a comment is inappropriate, inappropriate and off-topic will abound.
Removing down-votes might help, but I doubt it.
I would be interested in knowing how much of your description is deduction on your part, and how much is received fact from definitive sources. I would be interested in knowing how and why your comment was deemed "bad." I don't know of any definitive cases where someone made a comment that was appropriate, got vast numbers of down-votes, and then got banned because of it. I know of many people who have complained abo…
I won't be repeating the mistake of thinking I can discuss a matter openly here and believe downvoting adds nothing to a discussion (in contrast to upvoting which can be very useful for sorting comments).
People don't downvote dissenting views. They downvote comments that lack value to the discussion.
That was once the case, but I think it's no longer true. Of late I've seen relevant and constructive comments down-voted, and I've been able to discern no reason other than the view expressed was an unpopular one. If there's a mechanism to indicate a comment is inappropriate, people will use it to indicate disapproval. If there's no mechanism to indicate a comment is inappropriate, inappropriate and off-topic will ab…
How do you even downvote, do you need a certain level of karma?
I would be interested in knowing how much of your description is deduction on your part, and how much is received fact from definitive sources. I would be interested in knowing how and why your comment was deemed "bad." I don't know of any definitive cases where someone made a comment that was appropriate, got vast numbers of down-votes, and then got banned because of it. I know of many people who have complained abo…
Take as an example some comments I made prior to making this post in the climate change thread currently on the frontpage (ice age). Although I have now deleted these, I simply stated that climate change prediction was uncertain due to the number of factors involved. A simple 2 line or so comment in reply to a poster asking why conflicting views existed on the subject. I believe it was of value (it answered his/her q…
Being downvoted has a much higher emotional impact than being upvoted, but it does help with sorting comments, obviously.