In isolation, that's very possible. In practice, like ryandrake, I've been seeing comments on certain topics get mass-downvoted almost immediately and then slow

In isolation, that's very possible. In practice, like ryandrake, I've been seeing comments on certain topics get mass-downvoted almost immediately and then slowly trend back upward. If it was just that HN readers in general disagree with me, I wouldn't expect such an identifiable and repeating pattern. (Also, TLC?)