However, people wanting feedback beyond mere downvotes is legitimate and downvoting without comment is the actual wrong here IMO.
IMO the best scheme here is that you _must_ provide a reason to downvote. People who vote for your reason [ie they agree with you about downvoting the parent] should be the actual downvotes.
This way instead of apparently arbitrary downvotes one gets a list of reasons with scores (HNs score hiding aside, though they'd still be ordered) indicating their relative worth as reasons for downvoting.
That is actionable. Under K2I that would allow everyone to tailor their contents to the audience if they wished, or at least understand the audience's approbation.
tl;dr I downvoted you ;o) ... except I didn't because your comment has value even if I disagree !
I agree that the downvote mechanism on HN could use some refinement!
Funny thing, when I went to quote the specific HN guideline, I'm almost certain it used to say "Please don't comment about downvotes. It never helps" or something very much like that.
But the current guideline says:
> Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading.
Which we're all in violation of! I'll do my best to follow this rule in the future.
It's a request, not an interdiction ;o). I find it occasionally illuminating to discuss meta-aspects but as a general rule the site guidelines are sensible.
However, people wanting feedback beyond mere downvotes is legitimate and downvoting without comment is the actual wrong here IMO.
IMO the best scheme here is that you _must_ provide a reason to downvote. People who vote for your reason [ie they agree with you about downvoting the parent] should be the actual downvotes.
This way instead of apparently arbitrary downvotes one gets a list of reasons with scores (HNs score hiding aside, though they'd still be ordered) indicating their relative worth as reasons for downvoting.
That is actionable. Under K2I that would allow everyone to tailor their contents to the audience if they wished, or at least understand the audience's approbation.
tl;dr I downvoted you ;o) ... except I didn't because your comment has value even if I disagree !