As a fairly frequent downvoter, I should probably explain my rationale so that others may retaliate accordingly. These are the main types of comments I tend to

As a fairly frequent downvoter, I should probably explain my rationale so that others may retaliate accordingly. These are the main types of comments I tend to downvote: 1. "This." Unless you're adding something substantive, please don't say it. 2. Piling on. If you're saying exactly the same thing that your only sibling comment said 2 hours ago in a single sentence, please don't say it. 3. This website's design sucks. Not everyone on HN is a web developer. If you don't like the font choice on a blog about Galois theory, kindly inform the author directly. 4. Useless side-tracking from the main point. Some side-tracking is interesting. If you teach me something about 14th century linguistics while commenting on an article about peanuts, I'll probably upvote you. But if you want make a snarky aside about Americans buying too much bottled water when the article is about life in Egypt, please consider not saying it. 5. Unnecessarily rude or dismissive. "Your design fails on so many levels." Even though this describes a lot of comments, I'd estimate my upvote/downvote ratio at about 5:1. Finally, I don't view a downvote as necessarily a negative thing. It simply means, "This particular comment does not contribute to this particular discussion." I've been downvoted before, usually rightly so. I still manage to feel warm and fuzzy inside and you should too.