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I, like many people, downvote anything that says something of the nature "I anticipate downvotes", lest you think I downvoted for political reasons
by anoonmoose 5y ago
I, like many people, downvote anything that says something of the nature "I anticipate downvotes", lest you think I downvoted for political reasons
- happytoexplain 5y agoIndeed. It's the purest form of the self-fulfilling prophecy.
- Joeboy 5y agoI think "I anticipate downvotes" is fine. "If you downvote me I will lean harder into my position" is basically blackmail (admittedly lame and ineffective blackmail), which is why I downvoted it.
- happytoexplain 5y agoI'm a little more strict, and draw the line at pretty much any extraneous assertion that your audience is going to disagree with you. E.g. "Controversial opinion: ...", "The HN crowd will downvote me, but ...", etc. It's an unnecessary injection of negativity, pettily frames one's self as the underdog, and provokes by implying that the people you're addressing are wrong before they've even replied to you. Obviously the internet is largely not a place to give crowds the benefit of the doubt, but it's critical for places with a shred of the expectation of real discussion, like HN.