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Part of it is because people who simply agree don’t have anything to say. Comments like “^ This”, are generally frowned on, because they don’t contribute knowl

Part of it is because people who simply agree don’t have anything to say. Comments like “^ This”, are generally frowned on, because they don’t contribute knowledge to the discussion and we have votes to show agreement. Constructive criticism does. I think this is a good thing, on forums like HN I prefer constructive criticism over unconstructive praise. However, it doesn’t explain unconstructive criticism (“how OP can be interpreted as ignorant or illogical or immoral”). Maybe people don’t know how to criticize gently and helpfully*, or being rude correlates more with expressing your opinion. * My advice would be: make objective points and focus on the content, don’t make subjective points or attack the commenter.

getnormality 1y ago
It seems implied here that the main things that happen online are unconstructive praise and constructive or unconstructive criticism? So I wonder what's going on with the fourth possibility, constructive feedback that is neutral-to-positive. Why does that box go unmentioned? Are we somehow especially bad at, or uninterested in, doing stuff that fits in this category?
- armchairhacker 1y ago
  In my mind, there are three kinds of positive constructive feedback: - Constructive criticism, but worded nicely. "This is a cool project, it would be cooler if..." is a nicer way (with some praise) of saying "This part isn't very good: ... [inverted]" - Appreciating a specific part of the project, which I think is the technical definition of "constructive praise". "I especially liked X". This is useful because it implicitly suggests what to emphasize or elaborate (the part being praised) and what to improve or change (other parts). Unfortunately this may be the rarest, especially on HN; it's at least rarer than constructive criticism. - Suggestions for new features. Actually these are pretty common on HN. I was lumping them with criticism ("you don't have X") but that's just a reinterpretation, and any constructive feedback can be reinterpreted as criticism ("I especially liked X" => "Every part was bad except X"). That's probably why I didn't address the other kinds of feedback, but thinking about it more, criticism is only the feedback that's phrased negatively.

getnormality 1y ago

It seems implied here that the main things that happen online are unconstructive praise and constructive or unconstructive criticism? So I wonder what's going on with the fourth possibility, constructive feedback that is neutral-to-positive. Why does that box go unmentioned? Are we somehow especially bad at, or uninterested in, doing stuff that fits in this category?

armchairhacker 1y ago
In my mind, there are three kinds of positive constructive feedback: - Constructive criticism, but worded nicely. "This is a cool project, it would be cooler if..." is a nicer way (with some praise) of saying "This part isn't very good: ... [inverted]" - Appreciating a specific part of the project, which I think is the technical definition of "constructive praise". "I especially liked X". This is useful because it implicitly suggests what to emphasize or elaborate (the part being praised) and what to improve or change (other parts). Unfortunately this may be the rarest, especially on HN; it's at least rarer than constructive criticism. - Suggestions for new features. Actually these are pretty common on HN. I was lumping them with criticism ("you don't have X") but that's just a reinterpretation, and any constructive feedback can be reinterpreted as criticism ("I especially liked X" => "Every part was bad except X"). That's probably why I didn't address the other kinds of feedback, but thinking about it more, criticism is only the feedback that's phrased negatively.