HN Explorer

Can we please have comment points displayed again, pg?

25 points by crizCraig ↗ HN
As of right now 2,712 voted for points next to comments while 1,700 prefer points hidden. That's 61% for, 39% against.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2595605

pg is certainly much smarter than me, especially when it comes to the design of HN. However, I think the aggregate wisdom of HN users must be even more superior and that wisdom seems to be saying that showing comments points is the way to go.

So, what do you say, pg? Can we get comment points displayed again?

12 comments

[ 4.5 ms ] story [ 39.4 ms ] thread
JordyB
I think there are good arguments, both for and against having points next to comments. Personally I am in that 61%. I like to judge the quality of a comment by the number of points it has. Unfortunately this usually means most comments down the bottom get very little face time.
crizCraig
It's true. But for me at least, I read the comments less than ever, since it's hard to find signal in the noise.
sixtofour
I upvoted you. Too bad no one can see that.
bmelton
Honestly, I'd attribute the problem to too much noise and not enough signal. My honest guess, at this point, is that the community has been diluted from what it was to the point that no method of karma manipulation can fix it.
udoprog
I voted for displaying comment points, but I do agree that they might create something of an echo chamber where the "highest rated" comment is the one that decided where the topic is going. If this _was_ the case prior to removing comment points another solution is necessary, but more information would be appreciated.
dstein
There is a legitimate option not being presented. Only show the points when they're +/- 5 or more. What I don't like about the voting is the first few votes tend to tip the balance quickly.

But regardless, without displaying the votes there's no reason to have karma or voting at all.

brudgers
Karma and voting allow for the ladder of features to be made available to users, e.g. downvoting, as well as the page positioning of threads.

[edit] The problem with numeric thresholds for displaying comments is that the numeric value tends to get larger the more popular a thread is - a 10 point comment on an obscure thread is typically of higher quality than a 10 point comment about an article which spends 24 hours on the front page.

gnosis
I'd prefer that HN show the votes a given comment has accrued only after you've voted.

Showing them before you vote could sway you to vote one way or the other.

mgkimsal
I guess I still don't understand why they're not optional, with a default to off. The people who want to see them can, but the people who are concerned about some self-fulfilling echo chamber effect of "visible points promotes groupthink" can rest assured that most people will not be seeing them because they off by default (or perhaps only visible to logged in people?)
crizCraig
Very true. The main benefit is seeing them yourself, not the fact that everyone else can see them. If you search for comments on hnsearch.com, you can still see the points. So a browser extension could easily be made to do what you're saying.
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