Oops - I somehow wasn't aware of that! If flag isn't helping, perhaps this is true: In HN's UI, the downvote is presented as directly equivalent to the upvote.

Oops - I somehow wasn't aware of that! If flag isn't helping, perhaps this is true: In HN's UI, the downvote is presented as directly equivalent to the upvote. Since the upvote button is to be used if one agrees with the tone, sentiment or facts within a comment, its visual link to the downvote button causes people to infer that the downvote button should be used when one disagrees. If this isn't the intended purpose of downvotes, the UI should change so that it isn't the exact mirror of an upvote.