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Again, HN, please explain to me why “This.” was downvoted here. Why is it wrong for somome to acknowledge and undersore what somone else says? It’s the kind o

Again, HN, please explain to me why “This.” was downvoted here. Why is it wrong for somome to acknowledge and undersore what somone else says? It’s the kind of thing that happens in real world conversation and we don’t rebuke people for agreeing and underscoring what somone else says in that context so why do it here? I’m genuinely curious.

LeoPanthera 9y ago
It adds nothing and wastes space. If you agree, just upvote.
- imron 9y ago
  This.
fossuser 9y ago
At the risk of increasing an unnecessary thread, the parent comment adds nothing to the discussion and the upvote exists for this purpose.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
adventured 9y ago
> It’s the kind of thing that happens in real world conversation HN isn't real world conversation. These link comment threads do not function at all like conversations in the real world. And if they did.... Where in the real world would you walk into a physical space, in which a crowd of 187 people are gathered to read and discuss an article (or broadly a topic), and then pull out a bullhorn and declare one word: "this" and then walk back out the door? Your premise doesn't make sense.
teddyh 9y ago
There is a significant difference between HN and real life; in real life, there are both a limited number of participants, and you are more likely to be interested in what each participant thinks. But consider a very large group, like hundreds of people, in a room. One person gets their turn to speak, and merely says "I agree with the previous speaker" and leaves the podium. Did this unknown person contribute meaningfully to the debate, or did they just senselessly waste everybody’s time? It’s obviously the latter, and it’s the same here on HN; nobody knows who you are, and merely agreeing or disagreeing without backing it up with arguments is a waste of everybody’s time.
- jv22222 9y ago
  That’s a very good answer to a genuine question, thanks!

LeoPanthera 9y ago

It adds nothing and wastes space. If you agree, just upvote.

imron 9y ago
This.

fossuser 9y ago

At the risk of increasing an unnecessary thread, the parent comment adds nothing to the discussion and the upvote exists for this purpose.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

adventured 9y ago

> It’s the kind of thing that happens in real world conversation HN isn't real world conversation. These link comment threads do not function at all like conversations in the real world. And if they did.... Where in the real world would you walk into a physical space, in which a crowd of 187 people are gathered to read and discuss an article (or broadly a topic), and then pull out a bullhorn and declare one word: "this" and then walk back out the door? Your premise doesn't make sense.

teddyh 9y ago

There is a significant difference between HN and real life; in real life, there are both a limited number of participants, and you are more likely to be interested in what each participant thinks. But consider a very large group, like hundreds of people, in a room. One person gets their turn to speak, and merely says "I agree with the previous speaker" and leaves the podium. Did this unknown person contribute meaningfully to the debate, or did they just senselessly waste everybody’s time? It’s obviously the latter, and it’s the same here on HN; nobody knows who you are, and merely agreeing or disagreeing without backing it up with arguments is a waste of everybody’s time.

jv22222 9y ago
That’s a very good answer to a genuine question, thanks!