

Ask PG/HN: Why does the number of previous comments count in comment ranking? - benwr

I'm trying to figure out how I can be a better member of the community (thereby, presumably, gaining more karma), and looking through my old threads I noticed that often, even when my comments have the most points on a story, and even when my karma isn't any lower than the other people commenting, my comments are at the bottom of the page.  The only thing I can find that could cause this is that I've posted 22 comments while others have consistently posted more.  My "average karma" is nil, and I assume this means I haven't posted enough to begin its tabulation, and I remember recently PG said something about revamping comment ranking to include this statistic.<p>I can understand a sort of "probation period," in which new users are expected to spit out solely inane things, but I have a number as low as 22 because I generally only comment when I feel my comment seriously adds to the discussion, and (I feel) not because of a lack of familiarity with the community.  On SearchYC, my average comment score is 4.86.  I assume that I'm not being singled out, and that other people are in this situation as well.  So, is there an explanation I'm missing here?
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pg
Your comment average doesn't get calculated till you've made over a certain
number of them.

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michael_dorfman
I'll let someone else (who has actually bothered to look at the source code)
speak about the details, but I believe that the major factor you're forgetting
is comment age.

In any event, the best general advice is not to worry too much about the karma
mechanisms, and just try to make the kinds of comments you think contribute
best to the discussion.

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benwr
Sorry, but I don't think that's it.

