

Hacker News Guidelines - franze
http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html?

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MichaelApproved
Can we add that you shouldn't downmod someone simply because you don't agree
with someone has to say? Downmods should be used when breaking a rule in the
Guidelines.

~~~
nikcub
The practical result of comment karms is in ordering comments, and if you
always keep that perspective in mind when voting I believe the threads will be
a lot more interesting.

For eg. opinions that you may strongly disagree with, but that you think
anybody clicking the comment thread _must read_ should be voted up so they
appear higher.

Karma shouldn't be seen as keeping score on who is right or who is wrong, more
about being on-topic and interesting.

~~~
Terretta
I suggested a change from comment arrows to comment action links to help
clarify this in PG's "How do we fix this?" thread:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2408048>

In the final iteration of my suggestion, the upvote was replaced with the link
word "interesting" for exactly your reason.

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nickolai
> Please don't bait other users by inviting them to downmod you.

I'd say there is usually at least one post per comment page starting with "I
know this will be downvoted, but ...". usually with 15+ points...

~~~
DanielBMarkham
Which is different from baiting. If you say "I know this is going to be
downmodded" you're saying that you realize you are taking a contrary opinion.
If you say "Downvote me all you want, you bastards, I'm still telling you the
truth whether you like it or not" you're baiting.

It's an important social skill to acknowledge that something you're saying
might be offensive. Lots of times I realize that I'm being undiplomatic, but
can't come up with the right words. A disclaimer like that can help keep the
thread from descending into flames.

~~~
nickolai
I disagree. For what I understood, downvoting should correspond to
irrelevancy, not disagreement. So I would interpret this disclaimer as "I know
that what I say is irrelevant , but..." - wait, why are you saying it then?

Nothing wrong with an "I know some people may find this offensive" disclaimer
though.

~~~
larrik
"Should correspond" and "does correspond", in this instance, are not similar.

