Re:Tell HN: Uptick in mean-spirited comments
by aturek on Sunday October 31, 2010 @12:26PM
(#1853532)
Downvotes can be used to stifle dissent, but are generally valuable.
I feel like 60-70% of the heavily downvoted comments I see are already trolling or flaming (or in some cases something dumb, like a 3-word reference to an internet meme). With the grayed out text, I think this is a fantastic visual cue about how not to act on HN.
(I could have just written this comment as "/disagree", and then watched it get appropriately downvoted, and learned my lesson)
Edit: I should also add that as a barely-contributing user, I don't have the ability to downvote. But I'd still like other people to be able to do it, to enforce the community's standards.
I feel like 60-70% of the heavily downvoted comments I see are already trolling or flaming (or in some cases something dumb, like a 3-word reference to an internet meme). With the grayed out text, I think this is a fantastic visual cue about how not to act on HN.
(I could have just written this comment as "/disagree", and then watched it get appropriately downvoted, and learned my lesson)
Edit: I should also add that as a barely-contributing user, I don't have the ability to downvote. But I'd still like other people to be able to do it, to enforce the community's standards.