Ask HN: force comments or attach username to downvotes?

Posted by pedalpete on Wednesday December 17, 2008 @11:56AM
from the ask-hn dept.

I've only been down-voted twice (though maybe this post will increase that number ;)), and each time there was no comment left as to why I was down-voted.

HN is great not only for the links, but for the comments and discussions that surround the articles. Wouldn't forcing users to comment on a down-vote (or maybe just the first down-vote) improve the quality of communication?

I'm left wondering what the other side was/what was disagreed with, and i've got nothing, and no idea what that community members views are, etc. etc.

( 5 comments | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: force comments or attach username to downvotes? by brk on Wednesday December 17, 2008 @12:31PM (#401164)

What happens when x people downvote the same comment? You have a string of at least x replies that would likely be useless ("lame", "troll", etc.) Then someone would be inclined to downvote those comments, etc.

The majority of my karma has come from comments instead of submissions. One of my recent higher ranking comments ended up with 91 upvotes, but I know from watching the thread that probably 2 or 3 people downvoted the comment. In the end, why does it really matter? There are enough users here that comments and submissions will gravitate towards the correct ranking. Comments that are massively downvoted tend to have an obvious reason why, even if the reason is clear but not rational.

I don't think your solution solves any real problems, and inhibits peoples ability to moderate comments in a low-effort manner.

I have seen several cases where a comment is left like "I down voted your comment because..." In the other cases, forcing a comment would either add more noise to the conversation, or discourage people from downvoting and cause the comments to be falsely ranked.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: force comments or attach username to downvotes? by jgrahamc on Wednesday December 17, 2008 @12:07PM (#401125)

My take (without wanting to seem harsh): get over being down voted a couple of times and don't come up with a technical solution. It happens.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: force comments or attach username to downvotes? by tptacek on Wednesday December 17, 2008 @01:29PM (#401243)

You are making the mistake of paying attention to your votes. Life is too short. Who cares?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: force comments or attach username to downvotes? by ram1024 on Wednesday December 17, 2008 @12:08PM (#401126)

most of my downvotes are from me being deliberately inflammatory, so i generally know why...

a few of them are wonderful mysteries though. fun!

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Ask HN: force comments or attach username to downvotes? by MaysonL on Wednesday December 17, 2008 @11:47PM (#401813)

a few of them are wonderful mysteries though. fun!

I can identify with that sentiment ;-) I'm still somewhat mystified by the voting on this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=249009

[ Parent | on HN ]