Ask NH: What are the "perks" of higher points on HN, besides Karma | Hacker News Reader

Ask NH: What are the "perks" of higher points on HN, besides Karma

8 points10smom9 comments

I think I might have missed this in the FAW but I did look 3 times already. Does it help in anyway to have a lot of points overall for things like, getting HN front page or anything else? Thanks

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Once you reach a certain level (around 300 points I think) you will be able to downvote comments and the comments are arranged so that those with higher points overall (not just for specific responses) rank higher than others. I believe this is so that a long term contributor to HN can have their opinion heard ahead of some fresher faces.

awe I was wondering where that down vote button was that I read about in FAQ. Thanks for the info. It was becoming clear that some with higher overall pts were making it to Hacker news page while others with higher comments or points on a thread were not on the main page. now I understand why. Thanks.

It used to be 200, and was increased a few weeks ago (to 500, I think). I'm at 338 and can no longer downvote.

I always kind of wondered if your points on HN were taken into consideration if you apply to YC. If nothing else I think it reveals a lot about you, like what interests you (links you post), how knowledgable you are (providing help), and if you know how to communicate to better achieve your goals (asking for help).

...but I might be wrong :)

PG has said on several occasions that when someone applies to YC, he does look through their comments on HN, but I haven't heard anything about total points having any weight.

I think the point unlocks go in this order: flag comments/articles, downvote comments, change topcolor (the orange bar at the top).

The points required to downvote (and maybe for the others) goes up over time.

Once you hit a thousand points, you get a new car.

Promise?

I really enjoyed the gift basket you get at 700

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