> """I think this is a bad idea.""" I think the issues you mention can be addressed. I've outlined how, below: 1: > """If you upvote a comment as interesting

> """I think this is a bad idea.""" I think the issues you mention can be addressed. I've outlined how, below: 1: > """If you upvote a comment as interesting and the not the ones leading up to it, then you are punishing that comment because you're punishing its predecessors in the threaded chain, so it will be less-seen because you upvoted it.""" That's a good point. I'm not sure if it is an issue, however. Not upvoting a comment would have very little impact — it wouldn't weight as much as a downvote, for example. So I think the effects wouldn't be that bad. (A comments score could be: `(upvotes - downvotes) / number_of_people_who_read_but_didn't_upvote` and adding +1 to `number_of_people_who_read_but_didn't_upvote` will have only a tiny tiny effect.) Anyway I think the issue can be addressed like so: If there is a thread with very interesting comments somewhere in it, prioritize that thread a little bit — so it'll get a score that is a little bit better than the very first comment in it (the comment that starts the thread). I think SlashDot does something reminiscent of this? — Sometimes, [a mediocre comment that starts a new thread] is collapsed, but [comments deeper inside the thread but with many upvotes] are shown in full. Alternatively: Modify the algorithm: Don't punish ancestors, only siblings. 2: > """Any other assumptions of which comments are read will probably not end well. Some people may skip to comments to get someone's personal opinion, other people may only read shorter comments.""" I think it's okay that the algorithm makes mistakes sometimes. It only needs to work well on the whole, given data about many visitors. — On mobile phones, however, where only 1 comment is shown at a time, it'd be easier to know what the reader is reading. Also keep in mind that the examples in the article were intended as examples — if there are issues, the algorithms can perhaps be modified to take them into account. For example, your example visitor that reads only short comments, would be more likely to upvote only short comments. So the algorithm could then "realize" that "oh, this visitor only reads short comments. I'll take that into account" :-)