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The downvote button should be replaced with an "off topic" flag. If downvote is opposed with upvote and upvote is understood to mean "I agree" or "this is infor

The downvote button should be replaced with an "off topic" flag. If downvote is opposed with upvote and upvote is understood to mean "I agree" or "this is informative" then downvote would be expected to mean "I disagree" or "this is bunk". It's semantically misleading.

mumblemumble 6y ago
> The downvote button should be replaced with an "off topic" flag. I hope not. Some of the most informative, useful comments I've seen on Hacker News have taken the form of wild tangents. I do see where you're going, though, that if "I agree" is sufficient cause for an upvote, then it's only reasonable that a vote in the opposite direction should be allowed to carry the opposite semantics. It's just that, from a purely social standpoint, that's not actually how human beings typically think, feel, and react. Perhaps it could be that simple on the Vulcan version of Hacker News.
- dang 6y ago
  Oh for sure—wild tangents are fine as long as they're unpredictable, which is what makes them interesting. The offtopicness we try to avoid are generic tangents, the kind where people get sucked into the same argument about some topic that they always get sucked into. Those are the black holes of internet forums—it's best to steer clear. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=generic%20discussion%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor... https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=whimsical%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...
dang 6y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=117171 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=117171
- beaconstudios 6y ago
  To be clear, "off topic" here's just an example. My main point was the semantic implication of a downvote - I've seen the argument of "downvotes are not meant for disagreement" expressed here previously.

mumblemumble 6y ago

> The downvote button should be replaced with an "off topic" flag. I hope not. Some of the most informative, useful comments I've seen on Hacker News have taken the form of wild tangents. I do see where you're going, though, that if "I agree" is sufficient cause for an upvote, then it's only reasonable that a vote in the opposite direction should be allowed to carry the opposite semantics. It's just that, from a purely social standpoint, that's not actually how human beings typically think, feel, and react. Perhaps it could be that simple on the Vulcan version of Hacker News.

dang 6y ago
Oh for sure—wild tangents are fine as long as they're unpredictable, which is what makes them interesting. The offtopicness we try to avoid are generic tangents, the kind where people get sucked into the same argument about some topic that they always get sucked into. Those are the black holes of internet forums—it's best to steer clear. https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=generic%20discussion%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor... https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sort=byDate&type=comment&query=whimsical%20by:dang https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&sor...

dang 6y ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=117171 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=117171

beaconstudios 6y ago
To be clear, "off topic" here's just an example. My main point was the semantic implication of a downvote - I've seen the argument of "downvotes are not meant for disagreement" expressed here previously.