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Hacker News Guidelines

(news.ycombinator.com)
446 points tonmoy | 1 comments | 24 Aug 23 16:25 UTC | HN request time: 0.233s | source
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yjftsjthsd-h ◴[24 Aug 23 17:09 UTC] No.37251581[source]▶
The one thing I wish was added - either in the guidelines or as a change to the actual web UI - was replying to a comment that you're downvoting; it's frustrating both to have one's own comments downvoted without explanation, and to come across a comment that's grey without obvious reason (Was it factually incorrect? Endorsing an unpopular idea? It's not always obvious).

(I'm not saying HN should do exactly the same thing, but one example is Slashdot's system where a comment can get downvoted in a way that tags it specifically as trolling/offtopic/whatever - https://slashdot.org/faq/mod-metamod.shtml seems to describe it alright)

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1. kelnos ◴[24 Aug 23 21:10 UTC] No.37254592[source]▶
I do often see people asking why they've been downvoted (and seem genuinely confused), but I don't think it's the right move to require at least one explanation reply.

I'm reminded of the xdcd "someone is wrong on the internet!" comment. I'm starting to get to the point where I don't feel like arguing or even explaining things; I just want to downvote, move on, and hope my moderation contribution has made the shape of the thread more useful to people.

If I had to explain my downvotes every time, I'd hardly ever bother, and I suspect that's true for most people. A forum where no one wants to take the time to moderate is not going to be a healthy place.