I upvote useful and insightful comments as soon as I read them. For direct replies to my comments, I upvote anything that is remotely helpful. If HN wanted us

I upvote useful and insightful comments as soon as I read them. For direct replies to my comments, I upvote anything that is remotely helpful. If HN wanted us to have what you are suggesting, like letting them know, HN would have had notifications for comment replies. They don't. If someone spends some amount of time to write a reply or their comment is truly helpful, I let them know I read them by saying thanks in reply. I do also upvote them. Over everything, one extra upvote count does not say that it was you who upvoted it. Does it? Better to say thanks, directly if it helps you.