On most forums I've been to, the username is prominently displayed above or next to a comment, along with an avatar, a way-too-large signature, and various othe

On most forums I've been to, the username is prominently displayed above or next to a comment, along with an avatar, a way-too-large signature, and various other cruft. The end result is that each comment is contained in a rather large, personalized box, and many comments are judged by the box rather than the contents. Here on HN, there's a tiny username, in a dim font, in the middle of the line (given less prominence than "points"). This is even true of pg; his comments look just like anyone else's. This has the net result that comments are primarily judged on their contents. I often have exchanges like this with my wife: Her: "I read a really good comment on [such-and-such HN thread], it said [contents]." Me: "I wrote that." Her: "Oh. I gave you an upvote."