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I ask whether the comment detracts substantially from the HN community? If the answer is yes, I downvote. The nice thing about this question is that it implie

I ask whether the comment detracts substantially from the HN community? If the answer is yes, I downvote. The nice thing about this question is that it implies many derived reasons for a downvote: being mean or insulting; egregious stupidity; being irrelevant; being "clever" without adding real value. And so on. I try to be careful to NOT downvote someone just because I disagree with them.

timf 18y ago
"the nice thing about this question is that it implies many derived reasons for a downvote" I like this way of thinking about it, I think the same approach is good for upvotes. Is this something that makes HN a better community? Is this part of the debate thought out and valuable (even if it's ultimately not the stance I end up agreeing with)? etc. For example, I will always upvote the sincere "review my new startup/application" submissions. They are a special thing going on here and so often full of good observations (and good 'vibes') so I want to encourage them.