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Disagreed. If downvoting meant "you are wrong", then it would be kinda like a black-hole if it weren't accompained by a reply, because the obvious follow-up qu

by ptn 17y ago

Disagreed. If downvoting meant "you are wrong", then it would be kinda like a black-hole if it weren't accompained by a reply, because the obvious follow-up question "why is that wrong?" would go un-answered, and thus nobody learns. Since learning is what we are here for, please correct "factually wrong" posts with a reply, not with a downvote. It seems more correct to downvote those posts or replies that do not follow the vein of intellectual conversation that HN tries to promote, those comments that distract you from the main topic instead of giving you more info to chew on. Similarly, those that do make you think, whether you agree or not, have contributed to the conversation and should not be downvoted. If you only wanted correct comments, then this wouldn't be a conversation, it would be going over what you already know, saying out loud what you read in a book or just plain brain masturbation. Let's have a conversation.

gaius 17y ago
It is not an either/or - you can both vote and reply. Thoughtfulness has little correlation to the quality of a comment. A one-liner from a subject matter expert is worth more than an entire paragraph of mere hearsay.
- ptn 17y ago
  If you replied with a correction, it's implicit that you disagree, and then downvotes would be redundant. I think one liners, unless they are reminders of something that's universally obvious, are worse than no comment at all, because they can't contain much information.
jerf 17y ago
'If downvoting meant "you are wrong", then it would be kinda like a black-hole if it weren't accompained by a reply, because the obvious follow-up question "why is that wrong?" would go un-answered, and thus nobody learns.' On Reddit, since they added in the "suppress entire thread once the parent goes below -4", yes. On HN, which never suppresses the thread, no. I for one occasionally check even the -8 posts, though usually if you make it to -8 it's for a reason. I've "rescued" a few -3s with replies before.
- ars 17y ago
  On reddit when things go to -8 it's for one reason only: They are pro religion, or pro israel, or conservative. (OK, that's 3, but it's basically the same thing.) On reddit stupid stuff usually gets a plus vote, and people express agree/disagree via votes. This is NOT the way HN is run, and people coming here from reddit have a hard time adjusting. So we need threads like this approximately monthly. Maybe PG can require all new members to read some kind of etiquette guide (with a quiz).
  - Skeuomorph 17y ago
    Having “come here from Reddit” some time ago, I can vouch that for newly arrived redditors this is moot, since I’m still not offered a downvote button. I’d guess that by the time the downvote button shows up, most people should have had time to realize HN generally offers more interesting discussion because it works the way Reddiquette FAQ says Reddit should work: do not downvote points of view. // Now I’ll go back to lurking.

by ptn 17y ago

gaius 17y ago

It is not an either/or - you can both vote and reply. Thoughtfulness has little correlation to the quality of a comment. A one-liner from a subject matter expert is worth more than an entire paragraph of mere hearsay.

ptn 17y ago
If you replied with a correction, it's implicit that you disagree, and then downvotes would be redundant. I think one liners, unless they are reminders of something that's universally obvious, are worse than no comment at all, because they can't contain much information.

jerf 17y ago

'If downvoting meant "you are wrong", then it would be kinda like a black-hole if it weren't accompained by a reply, because the obvious follow-up question "why is that wrong?" would go un-answered, and thus nobody learns.' On Reddit, since they added in the "suppress entire thread once the parent goes below -4", yes. On HN, which never suppresses the thread, no. I for one occasionally check even the -8 posts, though usually if you make it to -8 it's for a reason. I've "rescued" a few -3s with replies before.

ars 17y ago
On reddit when things go to -8 it's for one reason only: They are pro religion, or pro israel, or conservative. (OK, that's 3, but it's basically the same thing.) On reddit stupid stuff usually gets a plus vote, and people express agree/disagree via votes. This is NOT the way HN is run, and people coming here from reddit have a hard time adjusting. So we need threads like this approximately monthly. Maybe PG can require all new members to read some kind of etiquette guide (with a quiz).
- Skeuomorph 17y ago
  Having “come here from Reddit” some time ago, I can vouch that for newly arrived redditors this is moot, since I’m still not offered a downvote button. I’d guess that by the time the downvote button shows up, most people should have had time to realize HN generally offers more interesting discussion because it works the way Reddiquette FAQ says Reddit should work: do not downvote points of view. // Now I’ll go back to lurking.