Please don't use hnreputation • Hacker News Board

Re: Please don't use hnreputation

#51

Post by apotheon » Thu, Aug 27, 2009, 8:59 PM UTC

brk wrote: post #33

rincewind wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I trust security advice from tptacek or cperciva more than from [name withheld until you vote]. Threads get really confusing when [name withheld until you vote] argues with himself all the time.

Your point about valuing an opinion more highly from a person who is known to be accurate on a subject is valid. In the arguments case, I think it's easy enough to follow an A/B conversation, even without names. In the first case though, it still seems that the majority of comments here are not so specialized as to require the posters identity to determine if the content is accurate enough or not. Ideally, if you cou…

There's still the matter of confusion when [name withheld] is responding to [name withheld], though -- and for that reason alone, I'm afraid I have to disagree with your suggestion.

It's also the case that sometimes I'm not entirely sure what someone's trying to say unless and until I look at it within the context of his or her earlier comments in the same discussion. If I can't match someone's comment with the context of previous comments, I sometimes can't tell if they're being sarcastic, accidentally saying "can" instead of "can't", and so on.

I judge by the content of a comment rather than by name, and I agree that's a good way to do it, but I don't think that needs to be enforced by withholding information from us.

Re: Please don't use hnreputation

#52

Post by apotheon » Thu, Aug 27, 2009, 9:01 PM UTC

diN0bot wrote: post #43

hughprime wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that the upside (creating a marginally fairer karma system) would outweigh the downside (making the whole site a whole lot less readable).

what about this: make up random names for people. these names should be consistent for the entire discussion on this page across page views, but different for a different discussion. i've never been able to remember who someone is or what they do. the benefit of trusting A more on a security issue because A has proven himself to be a master of security issues...well, that's a tough problem. i'd rather see anonymous n…

Heh. Maybe, instead of anonymizing names, pg should just ensure that once you pass 200 points your point value is replaced with the word "ensouled". That way, we can still tell who's who, newbies still get drawn in and invested by the karma system, and people with 20,000 karma don't get automatically upvoted by impressionable people just because they have high karma scores.

Re: Please don't use hnreputation

#53

Post by apotheon » Thu, Aug 27, 2009, 9:02 PM UTC

pyre wrote: post #46

sachinag wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is that respondents may start addressing their comments to nerf such a change. Instead of: "You're forgetting something", you may get: "tdavis, you're forgetting something."

True, but that person could get appropriately down-voted for that 'work around' if enough people dislike it.

What -- so now we aren't allowed to refer to people by name? I think that's a terrible idea, especially when I'm talking to foo about something bar said.

Re: Please don't use hnreputation

#54

Post by apotheon » Thu, Aug 27, 2009, 9:03 PM UTC

adrianwaj wrote: post #42

pg wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intriguing idea. Maybe I'll do something like that.

Just wondering if you see the same HN as everyone else? Are there tools for power users you'd suggest? Have you ever had a negative karma score placed on a comment?

Well . . . the word "Maybe" in pg's comment is the only reason I didn't downvote it.

Re: Please don't use hnreputation

#55

Post by PieSquared » Thu, Aug 27, 2009, 9:12 PM UTC

PieSquared wrote: post #15

keyist wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Irresponsible usage as well. Those who used the script should really have at least eyeballed the source first. [EDIT: This is HN. Surely I don't have to explain the pitfalls of downloading a Greasemonkey script and running it in your browser without checking what it does? It's even worse than uneducated users tricked into running malware since you're knowingly installing a script.]

Whoa, what ?!

True, I guess, but it seems a bit extreme to say that anyone downloading a Greasemonkey script should be examining the javascript inside it to figure out what it does. That's all I meant by my 'Wait, what' comment. Should've elaborated, then.

Re: Please don't use hnreputation

#56

Post by kirubakaran » Thu, Aug 27, 2009, 9:16 PM UTC

adrianwaj wrote: post #42

pg wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intriguing idea. Maybe I'll do something like that.

Just wondering if you see the same HN as everyone else? Are there tools for power users you'd suggest? Have you ever had a negative karma score placed on a comment?

Have you ever had a negative karma score placed on a comment?

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=190451

( my memory is a gift and a curse ;) )

Re: Please don't use hnreputation

#57

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Aug 27, 2009, 9:20 PM UTC

pg wrote: post #32

brk wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While we're on the topic of suggestions that aren't likely to be implemented ;) I like to see the user name hidden on comments and submissions until after you vote and/or reply. Judge the content on the content alone, not on the author.

Intriguing idea. Maybe I'll do something like that.

[deleted]

Re: Please don't use hnreputation

#58

Post by adimit » Thu, Aug 27, 2009, 9:22 PM UTC

rincewind wrote: post #26

brk wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While we're on the topic of suggestions that aren't likely to be implemented ;) I like to see the user name hidden on comments and submissions until after you vote and/or reply. Judge the content on the content alone, not on the author.

I trust security advice from tptacek or cperciva more than from [name withheld until you vote]. Threads get really confusing when [name withheld until you vote] argues with himself all the time.

How about withholding the name still, but offering a way to 'opt-out' from voting. You don't see the name until you either vote up or opt out. After you've withheld your voice, you can't go vote again on that submission/comment.

Re: Please don't use hnreputation

#59

Post by zackattack » Thu, Aug 27, 2009, 9:23 PM UTC

hughprime wrote: post #47

nir wrote: post #16

The whole idea of "Karma" is silly. It encourages conforming to majority views and rewards people who are talkative rather than insightful - often mutually exclusive groups, since insight is gained by thinking & doing rather than posting comments. I think HN would do well to drop karma scores altogether, making this script a non-issue to begin with.

What if the karma system were kept, but people could only see their own karma score and not others'?

social shame/reward is a more powerful force than intrinsic motivation to be good/bad

Re: Please don't use hnreputation

#60

Post by adrianwaj » Thu, Aug 27, 2009, 9:27 PM UTC

kirubakaran wrote: post #56

adrianwaj wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just wondering if you see the same HN as everyone else? Are there tools for power users you'd suggest? Have you ever had a negative karma score placed on a comment?

Have you ever had a negative karma score placed on a comment? http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=190451 ( my memory is a gift and a curse ;) )

How did you find it? Well done.

PG's my hero, but how would you escape the negative sign below for a Google search so it works:

"-9 points by pg" site:news.ycombinator.com

I haven't had much success.