1) sometimes comments get downvoted for no apparent reason, in which they usually get upvoted again later. 2) many HN users downvote comments that talk about be

1) sometimes comments get downvoted for no apparent reason, in which they usually get upvoted again later. 2) many HN users downvote comments that talk about being downvoted, as it is against the rules (and can come across as needy/whiny). 3. while it can feel bad to see your comments turn grey, it's probably not healthy to let it affect your feelings (much). I've often wondered by sometimes perfectly reasonable comments are downloaded, and I suspect it's 1) because people just don't like the commenter because of other comments, 2) mis-clicks, 3) bots that randomly vote to appear like real users. FWIW, I upvoted your original comment and downvoted this one because of 2.