In addition to providing feedback to author of a comment, downvotes also establish the order of comments on the page. If a comment is based on a simple misund

In addition to providing feedback to author of a comment, downvotes also establish the order of comments on the page. If a comment is based on a simple misunderstanding, it's unlikely to result in productive conversation, and thus it may be a benefit to the group to deemphasize that comment to encourage others to focus their attention elsewhere.