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and now your comment is in the grey with no explanation. It's absurd how downvote-happy HN's been lately, really kills the conversation...

• simias 12y ago
  Off topic: I would be curious to get statistics about the evolution of the ratio of downvotes/upvotes the past few years on HN. I also have the sentiment that HNers have been very "downvote-happy" lately, as you put it. I really think downvotes should be rationed in some way (and not just enabled after some karma threshold is reached).
• 6cxs2hd6 12y ago
  My new habit: Automatically up-vote every greyed-out comment I encounter. I don't go searching for them, but when I see one, I upvote it without even reading it. I used to read them carefully first, to decide whether I should up-vote. But from that experience, I've learned I almost always should -- the downvotes were rarely warranted, and almost always lazy and brainless. So I may as well save time and cut to the chase -- just upvote. (If enough of us do this, maybe we can minimize the problem HN is seemingly unwilling and/or unable to address.)
  • Gracana 12y ago
    I've been doing that as well. Sometimes a downvoted comment is truly deserving of its status, but often incorrect statements get downvotes even though they spawn interesting discussions. I try to offset that, because even if they're wrong, they're still an important part of the conversation.