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Keep getting downvoted and it sucks

2 points by elberto34 ↗ HN
I'm trying to contribute in a constructive manner but I keep getting downvotes. Can we try to implement a way to make it easier to get upvotes, like Reddit? It's frustrating always being downvoted, especially when I try to contribute. I know that on Reddit it's fairly easy to keep a karma score positive but here it's impossible. It seems like to get an up vote your need to post something absolutely revolutionary like Euclid's elements, but people will down vote for the smallest reason, or no reason at all.

12 comments

[ 3899 ms ] story [ 3848 ms ] thread
davidw
Try rereading and thinking about what you write before clicking 'add comment'. You've posted a number of things that are not very accurate in terms of the facts.
elberto34
such as what? I got downvoted for posting that vitamins leave the body undigested, which is true http://www.collegecentral.com/Article.cfm?CatID=hlt&ArticleI...

other posts there isn't exactly a single correct answer, such as the one about Einstein.

Being downvoted all the time without any way of being able to redeem myself is frustrating.

davidw
Your comments on 'getting rich' seem to reflect a lack of knowledge on the subject. Nothing wrong with that offhand - we're all here to learn - but you might post with a bit less certainty.

Also, try writing correctly - not everyone here does, but it seems relatively common. I don't mean if you happen to make English mistakes, but proper capitalization and that kind of thing make for more pleasant reading.

elberto34
The second part off my complaint is the difficulty of getting up-votes. It's almost impossible it seems.
davidw
You get them by contributing meaningfully to discussions. I've been on this site for a while and gotten lots of upvotes, but ultimately it does not matter: what matters is learning, sharing what you know, and meeting people.

Welcome to HN!

andrewchambers
It is not particularly difficult, but I have found that you need to be non controversial and post things that are generally accurate and useful.

"Me too" style posts will almost certainly get you down voted.

gus_massa
My current average of comment point is 2.11. That means that in average I get only 1 upvote for each comment. The other posters here have a similar average.

There are not free upvotes, or an upvotes faucet here. Try to write meaningful comments, preferably in an area where you are an expert. Try to avoid oneliner and jokes, because most of the times they are downvoted.

mooreds
Yes, I made one snarky comment and got a number of downvotes. I guess I don't have a common sense of humor.

The best way I've found to get upvotes (for comments) is to either:

1. be the first or second commenter and say something insightful or unique

2. reply to the first or second commenter and say something insightful or unique.

In my experience, comments further down the page, or later replies to the OP, just don't get viewed as much.

But one of the other comments makes a good point. Why do you care? Do employers care about HN scores? Is there a secret club you get into at a certain point? Or is it just about wanting to understand the HN culture better?

greenyoda
Maybe your comment on vitamins[1] was considered to be inaccurate because it referred to vitamins in general rather than certain vitamin supplement products. The vitamins present in food seem to be absorbed well by the body in most cases. (I wasn't the one who downvoted you, so I'm just guessing.)

Also, citing a reference to back up your statements when you make them can never hurt.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8949665

Edit: On second reading, it also seems that your statement about vitamins was unrelated to the parent comment, which talked about dependence on increasing doses of amphetamines. As far as I know, vitamins don't have this effect.

deeviant
Really, there are probably two elements to this:

1. Your posts could perhaps be a bit more thought out or inspiring.

2. You have correctly noticed that down-vote etiquette here is quite bad. People frequently down-vote posts that are constructive, but simply on the opposing side of the down-voter's position. This is bad, but I really don't see a way to change this behaviour.

As an aside, I'm curious why you want karma, it provides little benefit, the main of which, is the ability to down-vote. I'm am not at all saying this is the case, but it would be awfully ironic for you to want to gain karma to get the down-vote ability, only to add to the poor down-vote etiquette.