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HN needs to separate emotion from reason in upvotes and downvotes. I bet that many readers here confuse the upvote button with "I like it" and the downvote butt

by akomtu 4y ago

HN needs to separate emotion from reason in upvotes and downvotes. I bet that many readers here confuse the upvote button with "I like it" and the downvote button with "I dislike it" while it should be about "is this comment truthful and informative, does it add something novel to the discussion?" HN could implement this with a cosmetic change: all upvotes and downvotes would show a form to provide explanation. Those explanations will be reviewed, randomly, to spot emotional users and suspend their voting power for a month or two. As for those who can't be botheted with explaining their voting decision, they shouldn't be able to influence the global ranking. Rage downvoting and hive-mind upvoting will be gone very quickly.

manx 4y ago
I think this boils down to: - Users upvote, because they want that story to get MORE attention, BECAUSE they agree - Users downvote, because they want that story to get LESS attention, BECAUSE they disagree So the intent is still attention control, but the reason is (dis)agreement. But in the case of HN, the downvote is a moderation mechanism, instead of a community poll. So this might be confusing to the user. Treating downvotes differently, based on a top-level reason (disagreement, violating ToC, false or misleading, not interesting, etc) makes a lot of sense to me.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  Usually (but not always), I upvote not because I agree, but because someone said something that I think was worth reading. Usually (but not always), I downvote not because I disagree, but because someone said something that I think is worth negative attention (trolling, etc.). But I would love a separate Like/Dislike mechanism. It's a bit painful to upvote an insightful (thus upvote-worthy) comment that expresses a view that I disagree with.
layer8 4y ago
You expect emotional up-/downvoters to be objective and truthful about their up-/downvote motivation?
- akomtu 4y ago
  They'll have to explain their votes, and if the mods deem the reasoning bs, they'll reverse the votes.

by akomtu 4y ago

manx 4y ago

I think this boils down to: - Users upvote, because they want that story to get MORE attention, BECAUSE they agree - Users downvote, because they want that story to get LESS attention, BECAUSE they disagree So the intent is still attention control, but the reason is (dis)agreement. But in the case of HN, the downvote is a moderation mechanism, instead of a community poll. So this might be confusing to the user. Treating downvotes differently, based on a top-level reason (disagreement, violating ToC, false or misleading, not interesting, etc) makes a lot of sense to me.

JohnFen 4y ago
Usually (but not always), I upvote not because I agree, but because someone said something that I think was worth reading. Usually (but not always), I downvote not because I disagree, but because someone said something that I think is worth negative attention (trolling, etc.). But I would love a separate Like/Dislike mechanism. It's a bit painful to upvote an insightful (thus upvote-worthy) comment that expresses a view that I disagree with.

layer8 4y ago

You expect emotional up-/downvoters to be objective and truthful about their up-/downvote motivation?

akomtu 4y ago
They'll have to explain their votes, and if the mods deem the reasoning bs, they'll reverse the votes.