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It seems the real issue is the cult of personality that develops around these people. It happens here on HN as well. There exists a large cadre of people who

by na85 12y ago

It seems the real issue is the cult of personality that develops around these people. It happens here on HN as well. There exists a large cadre of people who rally around certain well-known community figures and eventually morph into sycophantic zealots. The positive-feedback cycle stemming from early votes serves only to create an illusion of consensus, and many impressionable users begin to form thoughts like "that many upvotes can't be wrong" etc. That, IMO, is the real problem with up/downvote systems.

nmjohn 12y ago
I've also noticed that when someone disagrees with one of the types of people you're speaking about, they tend to get downvoted very quickly - even if they present a well thought out critique that isn't rude or negative whatsoever. Not all the time - I'm sure there are plenty of counterexamples - but enough I thought it was worth pointing out.
- minimaxir 12y ago
  In this case with Undian, the person who was arguing with him had all her posts systemically downvoted and was harrassed. It's worth noting that Hacker News disables downvotes on submissions older than 2 weeks.
  - na85 12y ago
    nmjohn's point is valid. Disagree with pg in a comments thread here and watch the downvotes fly, even if your argument is rational and your tone polite.
minimaxir 12y ago
A slight but important difference is that Reddit idolizes semianonymous users, while the most-respected users on Hacker News have fully-transparent identities. The identity of the idol, and the lack thereof, can change the perception of this funny super-commenter completely. Source: I gained internet notoriety through my comments on TechCrunch under my real name. As far as I know, I don't have any sycophantic zealots.
- jackweirdy 12y ago
  That's true - and as for Reddit, it seems to make people focus more on the content. Accounts like shitty_watercolour and awildsketchappeared aren't really popular because of who they are, rather what they produce.

by na85 12y ago

nmjohn 12y ago

I've also noticed that when someone disagrees with one of the types of people you're speaking about, they tend to get downvoted very quickly - even if they present a well thought out critique that isn't rude or negative whatsoever. Not all the time - I'm sure there are plenty of counterexamples - but enough I thought it was worth pointing out.

minimaxir 12y ago
In this case with Undian, the person who was arguing with him had all her posts systemically downvoted and was harrassed. It's worth noting that Hacker News disables downvotes on submissions older than 2 weeks.
- na85 12y ago
  nmjohn's point is valid. Disagree with pg in a comments thread here and watch the downvotes fly, even if your argument is rational and your tone polite.

minimaxir 12y ago

A slight but important difference is that Reddit idolizes semianonymous users, while the most-respected users on Hacker News have fully-transparent identities. The identity of the idol, and the lack thereof, can change the perception of this funny super-commenter completely. Source: I gained internet notoriety through my comments on TechCrunch under my real name. As far as I know, I don't have any sycophantic zealots.

jackweirdy 12y ago
That's true - and as for Reddit, it seems to make people focus more on the content. Accounts like shitty_watercolour and awildsketchappeared aren't really popular because of who they are, rather what they produce.