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An upvote and a downvote are just two faces of the same thing. Upvoting everything you think adds to the conversation is functionally the same as downvoting eve

by dpark 10y ago

An upvote and a downvote are just two faces of the same thing. Upvoting everything you think adds to the conversation is functionally the same as downvoting everything you don't think adds to the conversation. You aren't more positive just because you prefer upvotes to downvotes. By choosing to not use downvotes, what you're actually doing is treating neutral comments (that neither add nor detract from the conversation) the same as comments that actively detract. You are making your rating binary when you don't have to. I'll be entirely honest, I downvoted your comment. The question was about why downvotes are sometimes not available, and your comment about how it's negative to use downvotes at all seems unhelpful. So I downvoted it. I don't feel like that makes me negative. I also don't feel like it makes me positive when I upvote. I'm helping the comments sort more effectively, that's all. Also, complaining about downvotes is also a sure way to get more.

JoeAltmaier 10y ago
That would all be true, except for the greying-out thing. Its quite a bit different to downvote, particularly as an early responder. It can make disagreement appear as disapproval.
- dpark 10y ago
  Do comments turn gray after a single downvote? I honestly don't know. I personally don't care much about whether comments are gray unless they've turned the "I can barely read this" gray. The standard (first level?) gray just tells me that someone (or a couple of people) downvoted the comment, but that doesn't mean much. I've often "rescued" gray comments. The ultra-light gray often does indicate something and I'm less likely to read those.
vmateixeira 10y ago
Thank you for your explanation. It was helpful on understanding your motion towards upvoting and downvoting. I upvoted it, and am now explaining you why, because I think this is how we should justify ourselves. I kind of agree on you downvoting my comment for being off-topic, but is it really? I think I tried to bring something to this discussion, although not necessarily answering the OP question. Anyway, it's up to the individual but I think we shouldn't be that closed. Otherwise this would be solely a Q/A forum. Regarding the downvotes, I was already aware of that, and was expecting them. I don't care much about the 'karma' thing and am now actually thrilled to see the outcome of this experiment. I give much more value to an answer like yours, as I can learn with it, than the whole point system really. Thanks!
- dpark 10y ago
  > I upvoted it, and am now explaining you why Be careful with this. It's generally not a good idea to explain how/why you voted. It's really just for the person whose comment you voted on, and detracts from the conversation for everyone else. Most people will not care why or how any particular person voted. > I kind of agree on you downvoting my comment for being off-topic, but is it really? I wouldn't classify your comment as off-topic, but rather tangential and kind of uninteresting in the context of the initial question. It mostly feels like complaining about the voting system rather than discussion of the system. Complaints about downvotes are also generally discouraged (per HN guidelines), and while your initial comment was not a complaint about a specific comment being downvoted, it is still a complain about downvotes. On the other hand, I did not downvote your second comment, because it's clearly relevant to the comment thread you started.

by dpark 10y ago

JoeAltmaier 10y ago

That would all be true, except for the greying-out thing. Its quite a bit different to downvote, particularly as an early responder. It can make disagreement appear as disapproval.

dpark 10y ago
Do comments turn gray after a single downvote? I honestly don't know. I personally don't care much about whether comments are gray unless they've turned the "I can barely read this" gray. The standard (first level?) gray just tells me that someone (or a couple of people) downvoted the comment, but that doesn't mean much. I've often "rescued" gray comments. The ultra-light gray often does indicate something and I'm less likely to read those.

vmateixeira 10y ago

Thank you for your explanation. It was helpful on understanding your motion towards upvoting and downvoting. I upvoted it, and am now explaining you why, because I think this is how we should justify ourselves. I kind of agree on you downvoting my comment for being off-topic, but is it really? I think I tried to bring something to this discussion, although not necessarily answering the OP question. Anyway, it's up to the individual but I think we shouldn't be that closed. Otherwise this would be solely a Q/A forum. Regarding the downvotes, I was already aware of that, and was expecting them. I don't care much about the 'karma' thing and am now actually thrilled to see the outcome of this experiment. I give much more value to an answer like yours, as I can learn with it, than the whole point system really. Thanks!

dpark 10y ago
> I upvoted it, and am now explaining you why Be careful with this. It's generally not a good idea to explain how/why you voted. It's really just for the person whose comment you voted on, and detracts from the conversation for everyone else. Most people will not care why or how any particular person voted. > I kind of agree on you downvoting my comment for being off-topic, but is it really? I wouldn't classify your comment as off-topic, but rather tangential and kind of uninteresting in the context of the initial question. It mostly feels like complaining about the voting system rather than discussion of the system. Complaints about downvotes are also generally discouraged (per HN guidelines), and while your initial comment was not a complaint about a specific comment being downvoted, it is still a complain about downvotes. On the other hand, I did not downvote your second comment, because it's clearly relevant to the comment thread you started.