Ask HN: HN etiquette: Do you upvote/downvote comments you reply to? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: HN etiquette: Do you upvote/downvote comments you reply to?

12 pointsUmYeahNo21 comments

What is the accepted etiquette when responding to a comment, do you also vote on it? Or, do comments that generate lot of conversation help with karma without the need to vote?

View on HN

I upvote comments I like and downvote comments I don't like. This is independent of whether I'm replying to them. The one exception is when I'm arguing against the comment, in which case downvoting feels like bad etiquette as long as the other comment isn't clearly harmful.

I upvote often and only downvote if someone is being inordinately hostile. I do think it's courteous to upvote those you reply to.

I upvote content I enjoy and comments I reply to as a courtesy for opening a topic for discussion, as well as the replies I get for taking the time to continue the discussion. I only downvote if the comment is inflammatory, or blatantly false and misleading.

Often even if I disagree with a comment I'll upvote before I reply, because at the least they made me give a crap about something so it might affect others that way. I just received the power to downvote and I'm seriously considering just writing a bunch of anti-nuclear energy comments to get downvoted away from that responsibility.

I upvote the whole upstream thread every time I respond just to make it slightly more likely you people read my two cents.

Personally anytime some one replies to me, I upvote as a thanks to them.

Usually, yes. I'll also upvote the submission, to help it get visibility so more will see it and maybe encourage more comments (since submissions with more than 40 comments have a penalty, more upvotes counter that).

Upvoting or downvoting a comment you reply to are unrelated in my mind. I may do any combination of them, depending on the reason for voting or commenting.

I only upvote as I create a new account every week or so and hence never have the karma to do anything else.

I only upvote if I think a comment needs more exposure, but that's about it. I try to avoid upvoting stuff just because I agree with it. I never upvote just because I've responded to something.

I think ideally we should try to use the voting system to promote as many interesting and unique perspectives as possible, while demoting any rudeness or intolerance.

I sometimes want to upvote a reply, but i forget to. I wonder if there is a UI trick that would facilitate giving that feedback.

I will sometimes upvote and then reply if I think a comment is particularly good. I will never downvote and then comment, it's one or the other depending on the situation. Probably all in my head but doing both, to me, feels like "piling on" (even if I'm the only one doing it).

Generally a downvote should warrant a reply. The goal is to encourage healthy discussion AFAIK.

Yes. In the words of HN’s creator: “Downvotes have always been used to express disagreement.”

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=658691

No, I don't upvote nor downvote comments I opt to respond to. The main reason why either One or the Other but Never/Seldom both? Impartiality imo.

I don't remember downvoting comments/posts on HN. But when I reply to someone I don't downvote them. It just doesn't seem right.

I upvote comments that (I believe) nail it. I rarely downvote. I only downvote comments that are too rude, noisy or spammy.

I've never had a downvote button available to me. Up only. How does one get the ability to downvote?