Ask HN: What primarily drives you upvote something on HN?

2 points·arikr··6 comments

For me it's generally a 'I like this, I want this to exist, I want it to do well, I want more of this in the world' or 'I support this, I want this message/content to get more reach'

If you've thought about it and observed yourself as you vote, what is it for you?

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Some of the criteria I use to upvote: - Article is very relevant to my line of work and technology preference (i.e. Software Development). - Well-written articles that provides very good insight and context on the topic being discussed. - Lots of insightful discussion about the topic. - Something that is essentially beneficial in terms of technical and social impact to people and the society in general. - Topics that cover breakthrough discoveries and better ways of doing things.

I upvote comments readily, even if on mobile where the UX makes this tricky as I fear accidentally down-voting.

I am not in the habit of upvoting articles, this is mostly habit. On Stack Overflow I don't hesitate to upvote useful questions and useful answers, comments too.

On a separate note, how many people on Stack Overflow know what a 'stack' is, nevermind the overflow condition... I am not sure my colleagues would have a clue.

Just to save the links and comments of good articles.

You should use "favorite" (a new feature) instead of upvote.

When I upvote on side projects and I like them then the upvote is to support the anonymous developer like me, early exposure is good.

Hoping for interesting comments from readers

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