Downvotes have been happening for a long time. One kind of downvoting that is implicitly recommended in the welcome message for this community http://ycombinat

Downvotes have been happening for a long time. One kind of downvoting that is implicitly recommended in the welcome message for this community http://ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html http://ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html is downvoting of comments that are "rude or dumb." Language choice can matter for what is considered rude, and I think some of your most recently downvoted comments were rude in tone and unnecessarily harshly worded. Live and learn. Hacker News attempts to establish very high standards of civility and thoughtfulness, as the linked welcome message explains.