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I'd be more interested in something that'd prevent this situation from happening: smartest comment --smart reply ----more discussion ----more d

by SeoxyS 15y ago

I'd be more interested in something that'd prevent this situation from happening: smartest comment --smart reply ----more discussion ----more discussion ------correction on more discussion --smart-ish reply ----more discussion ----more discussion ----more discussion ------not-so-smart reply ----uninteresting reply ----downvoted comment ------comment on why parent was a bad comment ------another comment that's essentially the same thing ----a bunch more downvoted comments 2nd smartest comment [etc.] Basically, the 2nd best top-level comment is buried below the entire discussion for the best comment, even if much of that discussion has been voted average or negatively. A possible solution could be to collapse all the replies except for the few quality ones and show a [more] link, much like reddit. EDIT: This very comment exemplifies my point perfectly.

larrik 15y ago
I actually considered posting this idea just now too, but since you did, I don't have to. A javascript +/- button to collapse and expand threads would be perfect. The indentation is just too subtle, and it's too hard to follow the thread in bigger discussions (which are often the good ones worth following). Somewhat unrelatedly, I would think that comments should get extra points if they spawn a lot of discussion. I mean, that's what the points are for, right? This would credit the original user's karma for fulfilling the goal of the site, but more importantly, it will bump up the entire discussion higher on the page to better reflect it's value. (Though I don't know the algorithm that orders comments, so that part may already happen)
apike 15y ago
Making threads collapsible via JS would be good, but better might be to collapse third-level and lower comments by default. Reading more than a couple levels deep on a highly-discussed submission is no longer reasonable, since you can't tell what's insightful or not. Myself, I now only read the top-level comments and maybe their children.

by SeoxyS 15y ago

larrik 15y ago

I actually considered posting this idea just now too, but since you did, I don't have to. A javascript +/- button to collapse and expand threads would be perfect. The indentation is just too subtle, and it's too hard to follow the thread in bigger discussions (which are often the good ones worth following). Somewhat unrelatedly, I would think that comments should get extra points if they spawn a lot of discussion. I mean, that's what the points are for, right? This would credit the original user's karma for fulfilling the goal of the site, but more importantly, it will bump up the entire discussion higher on the page to better reflect it's value. (Though I don't know the algorithm that orders comments, so that part may already happen)

apike 15y ago

Making threads collapsible via JS would be good, but better might be to collapse third-level and lower comments by default. Reading more than a couple levels deep on a highly-discussed submission is no longer reasonable, since you can't tell what's insightful or not. Myself, I now only read the top-level comments and maybe their children.