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I wish HN would require an explanation (or a counter-argument) for downvote. Often I get downvoted and have no idea why. If the content is obviously a spam, it
by js8 6y ago
I wish HN would require an explanation (or a counter-argument) for downvote. Often I get downvoted and have no idea why.
If the content is obviously a spam, it should be flagged and removed, not just downvoted.
- GuB-42 6y agoSlashdot has that, somehow. Up/downvotes has categories. For upvotes there are interesting, insightful, informative and funny. For downvotes there are troll, flamebait, redundant, offtopic. There are also the general categories overrated and underrated. You can also flag posts for things like spam. It is not a full review but it is better than nothing. Also, users can give out weights per category. For example if you don't want to see jokes, you can lower the value of "funny".
- CM30 6y agoAgreed. I think these types of systems work better than the standard upvote/downvote one, and I wish more sites would use them. I know Facebook reactions are a bit like this, as is a popular XenForo plugin with similar features.
- js8 6y agoYes, but I think implementing a requirement to post a reply (or at least upvote some other person's direct reply) before a downvote would be much simpler. The categories do not take away certain subjectivity of the up/down votes. It is easy to understand silent upvote as "I am in agreement and I think more people should read this". With silent downvote, the intent is clearly "less people should read this" but the reason as to why is not given. It also nicely solves the meta-moderation problem. If the reason for downvote is given, it can be validated whether the explanation is meaningful or not.