

Keep getting downvoted and it sucks - elberto34

I&#x27;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&#x27;s frustrating always being downvoted, especially when I try to contribute. I know that on Reddit it&#x27;s fairly easy to keep a karma score positive but here it&#x27;s impossible. It seems like to get an up vote your need to post something absolutely revolutionary like Euclid&#x27;s elements, but people will down vote for the smallest reason, or no reason at all.
======
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.

------
greenyoda
One more suggestion: If you haven't done so already, you might want to review
the HN Guidelines, which cover both submissions and comments:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

There's also a HN FAQ:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html)

(The links to these are at the bottom of every page.)

------
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...](http://www.collegecentral.com/Article.cfm?CatID=hlt&ArticleID=2648)

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.

~~~
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?

