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Ask HN: Why downvote? I honestly do not get it.

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Re: Ask HN: Why downvote? I honestly do not get it.

#11

Post by unalone »

tokenadult wrote: post #2

I cannot see how that is different than someone throwing a stone at another person just because they do not agree with them. You don't think there is any difference between throwing a rock at someone and reducing their overall vote count by one vote in an electronic voting system? If someone downvotes me, I have a reason to look again at what I posted and whether or not it fit the discussion. If someone throws a rock…

Both, however, are instances of expressing disapproval without in turn adding something valuable. It was a ridiculous simile, but I understood his feeling because it's one I have also. When I take time and effort to argue something and get voted down, the message I'm given in liu of an actual counterpoint is that my effort in a community has not been appreciated. It's not as drastic as my being hit by a rock, but it's still something that engenders an emotional response on my part.

Of course, I then go on to contribute to the pool of negativity by downvoting people without responding to them, so it's not like I'm blaming everybody who's ever downvoted. But I do understand where he's coming from.

Re: Ask HN: Why downvote? I honestly do not get it.

#12

Post by robotrout »

"What if we knew who downvoted whom, what would be the result?"

I love that idea, but extend it also to upvoting, and use it to create a killer social network and/or dating site.

If you and I love the same ideas and hate the same ideas, than we should meet. We may not enrich each others worldview, but that's what HN is for. You and I, in such a scenario would probably get along really well and be great friends. A great way to find that out is a "similarity heuristic" in voting patterns on a site such as this one.

Re: Ask HN: Why downvote? I honestly do not get it.

#13

Post by iamelgringo »

The possibility of downvotes creates an element of risk in posting a comment. Without that element of risk the only deterrent to trolling or violating community standards is deleting or banning by the moderators. Moderating a site like this is an awful lot of work. The down vote arrow allows the community to police itself.

It's certainly not perfect, people have been down voted to oblivion. Pg has put in safeguards so people can only get down voted 5-10 points. I think that it's helped keep the community on track.

People take their karma very seriously for some reason. Notice the amount of angry posts when someone gets downvoted. :)

Re: Ask HN: Why downvote? I honestly do not get it.

#14

Post by chrischen »

I completely agree. And I suggested that the down vote be removed and replaced with something like a flag. Flagging would be reserved for inappropriate comments. Upvoting can be used to sort and rank the "better" comments.

Frankly if you disagree with a comment, reply, don't down vote.

Re: Ask HN: Why downvote? I honestly do not get it.

#15

Post by anigbrowl »

I don't think that most people downmod for just disagreement, but rather for stupidity, noise, trolling. Sure, some people vote a comment down to express disagreement, but their votes are often cancelled out. And it's not so unusual to see two HN'ers having an argument and both gaining karma from it if their arguments are well-formed, respectful, and informative.

On the other hand, comments such as 'more like CLOWNvote, amirite???' don't really improve the quality of the discussion, do they?

Re: Ask HN: Why downvote? I honestly do not get it.

#18

Post by chrischen »

bendotc wrote: post #5

I always find opinions like these to be illuminating whenever people claim that people don't care about karma, as it's obviously just a silly number in some computer running this website. As it turns out, some people find losing just 1 point to be indistinguishable from throwing a rock at the person. For what it's worth, the downvote is for the comment, not the poster. It influences a sorting algorithm that shapes th…

Even if you do not care about karma, a down vote is still symbol of negativity, just as is someone who doesn't care about earthly possessions being robbed.

The sorting algorithm can probably work fine with just an upvote button.

I don't think you really help sort comments when you down-vote if you personally think the person is wrong. You should reply and correct them if they are wrong. Comments that aren't wrong and contribute > 0 should be upvoted.

Re: Ask HN: Why downvote? I honestly do not get it.

#19

Post by SlyShy »

iamelgringo wrote: post #13

The possibility of downvotes creates an element of risk in posting a comment. Without that element of risk the only deterrent to trolling or violating community standards is deleting or banning by the moderators. Moderating a site like this is an awful lot of work. The down vote arrow allows the community to police itself. It's certainly not perfect, people have been down voted to oblivion. Pg has put in safeguards s…

Respectfully, I doubt downvoting is a deterrent to any troll. Trolls are already determined to anger the community. Downvoting is more of a deterrent to people who care what the community thinks of them--they might refrain from posting their contrary opinions as a result.

That said, I still think downvoting is a useful function, because the point is to filter discussion.

Re: Ask HN: Why downvote? I honestly do not get it.

#20

Post by jodrellblank »

jrockway wrote: post #8
mooism2 wrote: post #6

Downvoting is there to bury spam, swearing, bad behaviour, objectively false information, etc. Some people downvote to bury opinions they disagree with, which isn't good, I agree.

People downmod swearing? That's fucking stupid.

Here I agree with the sentiment (swearing is OK and not what the downvote button should be used for) but dislike the comment (a one line personal attack).

Which is why there should be "agree/disagree" and "good/bad contribution" buttons.

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