IME anything that's not Reddit-esque banter, trolling, etc. is never really 'unpopular' so much as it is controversial - comments that I notice get downvoted us

IME anything that's not Reddit-esque banter, trolling, etc. is never really 'unpopular' so much as it is controversial - comments that I notice get downvoted usually go back up too; then down again; where it ends up is perhaps more a function of where it happens to be when interest in the thread waned. I don't 'care about' it as a score, but I do pay attention to it as an indicator that maybe there's some reply/discussion going on and I should check /threads. It's also a slightly scary proxy for time sunk into HN, I suppose!