- 1: If it actually fixed the problem, this would mean that quality comments will appear higher on the page, not cluttered by mediocre comments that enjoy the group bump. I pull this assumption based upon the way I use the upvote system. So of course, I could be wrong.
- 2: Maybe the site just feels better to me, because I don't have to see comments get high upvotes that I believe are poorly thought out, or based highly on emotion/fanboyism/or other non logical motivations.
I could see it going either way, but my money is on the first possibility.
All I know for sure is that I now rarely find myself thinking.."Whaat? People think that was a good comment? People thought that added value? People think this guy knows what he's talking about?"
The upvote system used to work because it consisted of a lot of similar people saying, this is a good point, or I like this.
Today's community is much more diverse, which is inevitable when you have a quality service/product/community/yadda yadda.
>> In total, Hacker News now sees about 90,000 unique visitors per day. http://newsgrange.com/ycombinators-hacker-news-reaches-1-mil...
The old system just doesn't mean what it used to. People are looking for new strats to preserve the original culture as best they can.