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Agreed. The numbering, for me, is a good sign of which comments to keep an eye on while scanning the page, rather than get lost in text.

by krav 17y ago

chrischen 17y ago
Don't higher rated comments get pushed to the top? And of course these dots will help you locate higher rated comments that get pushed to the bottom (perhaps because they replied to a low rated comment).
pg 17y ago
Doesn't the orange dot work for that?
- m_eiman 17y ago
  If it's a post with a lot of discussion, it'd help with one or two more levels of "good post" indicators. Maybe making the default text color slightly more grayish and the "a bit better than orange dot" have #000 text, and for the exceptionally upvoted posts also make the "pg 26 minutes ago | link | parent | flag" header bold.
- dionidium 17y ago
  Well, no. With the numbers I can get a sense of how quickly a comment is being upvoted by looking at the time it was posted. I can also compare a comment's total points to the those of surrounding comments for an indication of its relative worth. These things aren't perfect measures, but I find them useful.
  - TeHCrAzY 17y ago
    I think you are using the numbers to judge the comment, instead of finding an interesting comment, and forming your own opinion.
    - gizmo 17y ago
      It's just a filter. By reading only high scoring comments you will get a combination of insightful posts and annoying witticisms. Only rarely do you get a false positive: a post that with a high score that is inane or simply wrong. By reading every post you'll certainly find the "diamond in the rough", posts that don't get the recognition they deserve. But you'll also have to trudge through loads of posts of little merit. Given that there is an infinite amount of information on the internet, those 2 minutes can probably be better spent on wikipedia or reading the top post in a different HN thread. Additionally: HN isn't just about opinion, it is also for a large part about fact. And insightful facts almost always rise to the top. On the bottom of threads you often find things that are wrong or subtly wrong. Judging by the numbers may very well be the most efficient and reliable way to get to insightful content.
- Bluem00 17y ago
  I didn't realize how integral the numbers were to how I read HN until now. It's taken me a while to stop feeling lost without them, but with the orange dot present, I at least feel like I'm getting the insightful comments after a quick scan of the page.
- jeromec 17y ago
  It takes time to accumulate upvotes, so if you click a story before it has been widely read you can't quickly scan which comments may be headed up.
- krav 17y ago
  Numbers act as a sorting mechanism for me. One Orange dot can't accomplish that.
billswift 17y ago
Goes to show that removing scores was a good thing. You are saying that you are more interested in following the herd than in evaluating the text, which is where the real information is, for yourself.
- tezza 17y ago
  wow, what a confrontational response! BillSwift your comment has all of the sniping dogma that you attribute to Herd Followers. Have you tried to think of a more generous reason that people might look at the scores? perhaps people (like me) do a first pass to understand the herd reaction, and then do a second pass to delve into the specifics. Simply saying score readers are herd following cretins is insulting and wrong.
  - billswift 17y ago
    I said nothing at all about anyone being cretins; sounds like you are being a bit defensive. The post I was responding to said specifically that he used scores as "which comments to keep an eye on" and to avoid "getting lost in the text". But actually reading the text is the only way to absorb the information. The biggest problem I have is with following a comment back to its reference when there are a lot of intermediate comments - allowing comment levels to collapse, like emacs outline mode, would help.

Agreed. The numbering, for me, is a good sign of which comments to keep an eye on while scanning the page, rather than get lost in text.

by krav 17y ago

Agreed. The numbering, for me, is a good sign of which comments to keep an eye on while scanning the page, rather than get lost in text.

chrischen 17y ago

Don't higher rated comments get pushed to the top? And of course these dots will help you locate higher rated comments that get pushed to the bottom (perhaps because they replied to a low rated comment).

pg 17y ago

Doesn't the orange dot work for that?

m_eiman 17y ago
If it's a post with a lot of discussion, it'd help with one or two more levels of "good post" indicators. Maybe making the default text color slightly more grayish and the "a bit better than orange dot" have #000 text, and for the exceptionally upvoted posts also make the "pg 26 minutes ago | link | parent | flag" header bold.
dionidium 17y ago
Well, no. With the numbers I can get a sense of how quickly a comment is being upvoted by looking at the time it was posted. I can also compare a comment's total points to the those of surrounding comments for an indication of its relative worth. These things aren't perfect measures, but I find them useful.
- TeHCrAzY 17y ago
  I think you are using the numbers to judge the comment, instead of finding an interesting comment, and forming your own opinion.
  - gizmo 17y ago
    It's just a filter. By reading only high scoring comments you will get a combination of insightful posts and annoying witticisms. Only rarely do you get a false positive: a post that with a high score that is inane or simply wrong. By reading every post you'll certainly find the "diamond in the rough", posts that don't get the recognition they deserve. But you'll also have to trudge through loads of posts of little merit. Given that there is an infinite amount of information on the internet, those 2 minutes can probably be better spent on wikipedia or reading the top post in a different HN thread. Additionally: HN isn't just about opinion, it is also for a large part about fact. And insightful facts almost always rise to the top. On the bottom of threads you often find things that are wrong or subtly wrong. Judging by the numbers may very well be the most efficient and reliable way to get to insightful content.
Bluem00 17y ago
I didn't realize how integral the numbers were to how I read HN until now. It's taken me a while to stop feeling lost without them, but with the orange dot present, I at least feel like I'm getting the insightful comments after a quick scan of the page.
jeromec 17y ago
It takes time to accumulate upvotes, so if you click a story before it has been widely read you can't quickly scan which comments may be headed up.
krav 17y ago
Numbers act as a sorting mechanism for me. One Orange dot can't accomplish that.

billswift 17y ago

Goes to show that removing scores was a good thing. You are saying that you are more interested in following the herd than in evaluating the text, which is where the real information is, for yourself.

tezza 17y ago
wow, what a confrontational response! BillSwift your comment has all of the sniping dogma that you attribute to Herd Followers. Have you tried to think of a more generous reason that people might look at the scores? perhaps people (like me) do a first pass to understand the herd reaction, and then do a second pass to delve into the specifics. Simply saying score readers are herd following cretins is insulting and wrong.
- billswift 17y ago
  I said nothing at all about anyone being cretins; sounds like you are being a bit defensive. The post I was responding to said specifically that he used scores as "which comments to keep an eye on" and to avoid "getting lost in the text". But actually reading the text is the only way to absorb the information. The biggest problem I have is with following a comment back to its reference when there are a lot of intermediate comments - allowing comment levels to collapse, like emacs outline mode, would help.