4 ms·

downvotes sometimes mean you were correct and struck a nerve. Its best not to take it too seriously. Often when you're wrong or not 100% right, people will repl

downvotes sometimes mean you were correct and struck a nerve. Its best not to take it too seriously. Often when you're wrong or not 100% right, people will reply and discuss. When you make a good point and get downvoted its probably because people know you're right and don't like it.

yodon 6y ago
Factually correct comments do sometimes initially get downvoted but when a factually correct comment gets downvoted into the gray it generally attracts enough attention by virtue of being gray to get voted back into the black. Comments that stay in the gray are not comments to be proud of. A very large community of intelligent people are saying they think you are wrong. That's generally a sign some introspection about one's comment is warranted.
- chordalkeyboard 6y ago
  > generally I would say "sometimes" > Comments that stay in the gray are not comments to be proud of. A very large community of intelligent people are saying they think you are wrong. Its not correct to generalize over the entire community based on an unknown subset of people who happened to see the comment. And its true that this community is large and intelligent, and its also true that humans have their own individual and collective biases. If a large community of intelligent people think you're wrong and the comment in question is not obviously deficient (hostile, profane, or nonsensical), one might imagine that someone would take the time to post a reply correcting the parent. > That's generally a sign some introspection about one's comment is warranted. This is true.
JacobSuperslav 6y ago
it's the most upvoted comment of the thread
- chordalkeyboard 6y ago
  well now its flagged and dead, so I guess there are a variety of people here with perspectives that don't always align...which is a sign of a healthy community.
  - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
    what it conveys to me is that those who are silent and downvote without engaging in any kind of meaningful exchange are valued more highly than other members of the community who take the time and effort to create content and perspectives with the goal of sharing and wanting to learn more.
    - chordalkeyboard 6y ago
      to be frank I think that your perspective does not consider the unintended consequences of the alternative. "you determine your own level of involvement" -fight club
      - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
        >to be frank I think that your perspective does not consider the unintended consequences of the alternative. explain this to me, please?
        chordalkeyboard 6y ago
        if you require people to comment in order to make downvotes then they will make low quality comments so they can downvote. In this way, downvoting is seen as a minimum level of participation. By eliminating that possibility you change the incentive structure and the behavior of people in response to the incentives will also change.
        jelliclesfarm 6y ago
        ok. i see what you mean. what a waste of time. i really don't know what to say. is it the hubris of our time that we imagine that our shallow disapproval has value even when we are faceless/anonymous. now this reminds me of that black mirror episode, nosedive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive_(Black_Mirror) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive_(Black_Mirror) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLc2E4P87QE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLc2E4P87QE
jelliclesfarm 6y ago
Thanks. I don’t exactly know how it works because sometimes I can upvote and downvote and sometimes I can’t. Sometimes I see comments being downvoted literally within seconds of posting as though certain keywords are an automatic downvote. My problem with drive-by downvoting is that it’s frustrating not know which part of the comment is rubbing someone the wrong way or is incorrect. My 2c: downvotes can only be deployed by someone who participates in the comment thread.
- grzm 6y ago
  > Sometimes I see comments being downvoted literally within seconds of posting I think the velocity that comments are read on HN would be surprising to a lot of people. I don’t have any particular inside knowledge but it stands to reason there are more readers than commenters. People viewing the Comments link will see comments, most recent first. I’ve noticed similar behavior with how quickly people can respond. If you’ve noticed quick downvotes on others’ comments, that means you’ve also viewed very recent comments, whether or not you’ve chosen to vote or respond.
  - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
    Suggestion: Drive-by downvotes should be weighted differently from downvotes accompanying replies. Altho I would rather disable all drive-by downvotes if it were upto me.
    - chordalkeyboard 6y ago
      from what I can tell, the details of the algorithm are secret and they may do this (different weighting). > Altho I would rather disable all drive-by downvotes if it were upto me. Then people would reply with low value comments in order to make their dv count.
      - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
        Drive-by downvoting reminds me of the stoning scene from Monty Python’s Life of Brian. https://youtu.be/FQ5YU_spBw0 https://youtu.be/FQ5YU_spBw0

yodon 6y ago

Factually correct comments do sometimes initially get downvoted but when a factually correct comment gets downvoted into the gray it generally attracts enough attention by virtue of being gray to get voted back into the black. Comments that stay in the gray are not comments to be proud of. A very large community of intelligent people are saying they think you are wrong. That's generally a sign some introspection about one's comment is warranted.

chordalkeyboard 6y ago
> generally I would say "sometimes" > Comments that stay in the gray are not comments to be proud of. A very large community of intelligent people are saying they think you are wrong. Its not correct to generalize over the entire community based on an unknown subset of people who happened to see the comment. And its true that this community is large and intelligent, and its also true that humans have their own individual and collective biases. If a large community of intelligent people think you're wrong and the comment in question is not obviously deficient (hostile, profane, or nonsensical), one might imagine that someone would take the time to post a reply correcting the parent. > That's generally a sign some introspection about one's comment is warranted. This is true.

JacobSuperslav 6y ago

it's the most upvoted comment of the thread

chordalkeyboard 6y ago
well now its flagged and dead, so I guess there are a variety of people here with perspectives that don't always align...which is a sign of a healthy community.
- jelliclesfarm 6y ago
  what it conveys to me is that those who are silent and downvote without engaging in any kind of meaningful exchange are valued more highly than other members of the community who take the time and effort to create content and perspectives with the goal of sharing and wanting to learn more.
  - chordalkeyboard 6y ago
    to be frank I think that your perspective does not consider the unintended consequences of the alternative. "you determine your own level of involvement" -fight club
    - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
      >to be frank I think that your perspective does not consider the unintended consequences of the alternative. explain this to me, please?
      - chordalkeyboard 6y ago
        if you require people to comment in order to make downvotes then they will make low quality comments so they can downvote. In this way, downvoting is seen as a minimum level of participation. By eliminating that possibility you change the incentive structure and the behavior of people in response to the incentives will also change.
        jelliclesfarm 6y ago
        ok. i see what you mean. what a waste of time. i really don't know what to say. is it the hubris of our time that we imagine that our shallow disapproval has value even when we are faceless/anonymous. now this reminds me of that black mirror episode, nosedive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive_(Black_Mirror) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive_(Black_Mirror) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLc2E4P87QE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLc2E4P87QE

jelliclesfarm 6y ago

Thanks. I don’t exactly know how it works because sometimes I can upvote and downvote and sometimes I can’t. Sometimes I see comments being downvoted literally within seconds of posting as though certain keywords are an automatic downvote. My problem with drive-by downvoting is that it’s frustrating not know which part of the comment is rubbing someone the wrong way or is incorrect. My 2c: downvotes can only be deployed by someone who participates in the comment thread.

grzm 6y ago
> Sometimes I see comments being downvoted literally within seconds of posting I think the velocity that comments are read on HN would be surprising to a lot of people. I don’t have any particular inside knowledge but it stands to reason there are more readers than commenters. People viewing the Comments link will see comments, most recent first. I’ve noticed similar behavior with how quickly people can respond. If you’ve noticed quick downvotes on others’ comments, that means you’ve also viewed very recent comments, whether or not you’ve chosen to vote or respond.
- jelliclesfarm 6y ago
  Suggestion: Drive-by downvotes should be weighted differently from downvotes accompanying replies. Altho I would rather disable all drive-by downvotes if it were upto me.
  - chordalkeyboard 6y ago
    from what I can tell, the details of the algorithm are secret and they may do this (different weighting). > Altho I would rather disable all drive-by downvotes if it were upto me. Then people would reply with low value comments in order to make their dv count.
    - jelliclesfarm 6y ago
      Drive-by downvoting reminds me of the stoning scene from Monty Python’s Life of Brian. https://youtu.be/FQ5YU_spBw0 https://youtu.be/FQ5YU_spBw0