3 ms·

I think the reality is more that it goes in cycles, and it does seem to be at one of its low points currently. A reminder of the guidelines seems in order.

• pg 16y ago
  What I find is that randomness produces the appearance of cycles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clustering_illusion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clustering_illusion The last couple days were particularly bad, with lots of articles about controversial but fundamentally boring topics. But I think it was a coincidence, as usual.
  • kscaldef 16y ago
    Do you collect any metrics on user behavior? For example, it seem to me like downvoting (and particularly the abuse of downvoting) is on the rise. But this is just a gut feeling based on my particular comment history.
    • pg 16y ago
      I don't think people are more apt to downvote than in the past. But there are a lot more voters. Plus I recently removed the -4 threshold on comment scores and instead merely never display a number lower than -4. So downvoted comments now cost more karma. (This was in response to people who would say asshole things, knowing they couldn't cost them more than 4 points.)
      • duairc 16y ago
        I don't know, I definitely think people a people a much more inclined to downvote for the wrong reasons. I've made a lot of posts in the last day, one of which was by far the longest post in a 200+ comment thread, none of which I think were in any way rude or anything like that, and despite that it's cost me around -10 karma overall (mostly because of one post in particular, which I don't think was that bad. A strong opinion, but no personal attacks or anything). I've also observed a lot of posts being modded into oblivion for saying things like "thanks" and stuff like that. People generally seem to downvote posts which they disagree with, regardless of how polite or well-reasoned they are.
        • steveklabnik 16y ago
          While I (obviously) don't think you deserved it, it was a very short, controversial post, with nothing backing it up. [1] And the "thanks" posts don't get downvoted because of a personal disagreement, it's that a comment that just says "awesome, thanks!" doesn't add any value to the discussion. An upvote would suffice. 1: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1643726 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1643726
          • TGJ 16y ago
            Up votes instead of 'thanks' would seem to me to remove any kind of interaction that helps foster a community. If people knew who up voted their post then that would not be a problem.
            • steveklabnik 16y ago
              Saying thanks in and of itself isn't bad, but some additional substance would be nice. Compare these two comments: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1644924 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1644924 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1644906 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1644906 Which would you rather see more of? One highlights something specific, says 'this is really important to me,' and gives thanks... and the other says nothing, really.
              • TGJ 16y ago
                I understand what you are saying and I see the merit of having more content to a thank you post, but if it is not there is that in and of itself a warrant for a down vote? Sure you want more and more is sometimes great, but there is still a lot of substance in a simply 'Thank you' to be had. While the comment definitely does not merit an up vote, neither does it warrant a down vote. I would almost hazard to say that you no longer appreciate the value of the thanks itself and simply see it as a customary response that after being used so many times, no longer has any meaning. I see that you want "Thanks, (and here's why)" but what exactly are you worried about with having a few thank you posts?
• elblanco 16y ago
  What's also interesting is how the appropriateness of this particular metadiscussion seems to also come in waves. Today this is top of the front page. Tomorrow the same post might be flagged or comments downvoted into oblivion.