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There's also an interesting effect I observe on HN: sometimes a post of mine gets downvoted, often without explanation. If you then dare to post again underneat

by kleiba 5y ago

There's also an interesting effect I observe on HN: sometimes a post of mine gets downvoted, often without explanation. If you then dare to post again underneath your original post, you almost always get downvoted again. That would be understandable if you presented an unpopular opinion at first, and your subsequent posting was trying to defend it. But even when the second posting is not in the same line as the original one, it often gets hammered down just as much. I'm sure others might have observed the same effect?

detaro 5y ago
Your posts here are a perfect example of why the "don't complain about downvotes" rule exist: your top comment is the second-highest on the page, not-downvoted, but most of the the comments below it are ... you discussing how you got downvoted. That's purely noise.
- MerelyMortal 5y ago
  Sometimes users (including myself) have no idea why we're being downvoted. A downvote signifies something is not welcome, but what is that something? A downvote doesn't teach why. I have been using HN since 2012, and have over 4000 karma spread over three accounts, but sometimes downvotes still flummox me. I think as long as a user seems respectful, a little meta discussion is okay in order to learn how to be a better user going forward. Yes, some people are obnoxious and obviously toxic, and when they complain about being downvoted, they should definitely be downvoted more, but when a user seems genuinely curious, I think we should do our part to help make HN a better place by taking a moment to give a quick reason. I've politely asked in the past in order to not make the same mistake again. I think we should give users the benefit of doubt. > Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith. However > Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading. I think that last guideline should be changed to "Please don't complain about the voting on comments."
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- jonnycomputer 5y ago
  bah. its easy enough. discussion of downvotes can be tagged and the subtree minimized by default.
- kleiba 5y ago
  I disagree. Understanding what you may have done that wasn't appropriate is in my opinion the only way to avoid similar situations in the future. Why not allow meta-discussions? If HN is striving to be a place where interesting topics can be discussed, then I suppose commenting etiquette should fall under that heading for sure.

by kleiba 5y ago

detaro 5y ago

Your posts here are a perfect example of why the "don't complain about downvotes" rule exist: your top comment is the second-highest on the page, not-downvoted, but most of the the comments below it are ... you discussing how you got downvoted. That's purely noise.

MerelyMortal 5y ago
Sometimes users (including myself) have no idea why we're being downvoted. A downvote signifies something is not welcome, but what is that something? A downvote doesn't teach why. I have been using HN since 2012, and have over 4000 karma spread over three accounts, but sometimes downvotes still flummox me. I think as long as a user seems respectful, a little meta discussion is okay in order to learn how to be a better user going forward. Yes, some people are obnoxious and obviously toxic, and when they complain about being downvoted, they should definitely be downvoted more, but when a user seems genuinely curious, I think we should do our part to help make HN a better place by taking a moment to give a quick reason. I've politely asked in the past in order to not make the same mistake again. I think we should give users the benefit of doubt. > Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith. However > Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading. I think that last guideline should be changed to "Please don't complain about the voting on comments."
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
jonnycomputer 5y ago
bah. its easy enough. discussion of downvotes can be tagged and the subtree minimized by default.
kleiba 5y ago
I disagree. Understanding what you may have done that wasn't appropriate is in my opinion the only way to avoid similar situations in the future. Why not allow meta-discussions? If HN is striving to be a place where interesting topics can be discussed, then I suppose commenting etiquette should fall under that heading for sure.