But it does add to the conversation, in the same way as karma does. It provides the author of the comment valuable feedback about how their comment was perceived. Yes, karma has a similar function, but we react more to written comments than abstract numbers.
The point was, there shouldn’t be a karma hit for “adding nothing to the conversation”. It should be okay to simply express a reaction without taking a karma hit. The score for “adding nothing” is 0; a negative score indicates that the comment subtracted something from the conversation. To downvote a comment is to actively discourage such a comment from being posted. I don’t think such comments should be actively discouraged.
Dilution of good content is subtraction, if not as bad as the addition of bad content. I really do have no desire to see a bare “LOL”, and will continue to vote accordingly.
There is no significant dilution occurring here. If we were flooded by “LOL” comments, or a particular user posted them with inappropriate frequency, that would be a different situation.
You are being too harsh. For my part, I have no desire to see this kind of non-niceness on here, just because we’re interested in high-quality content. It subtracts a lot more from the experience here than an occasional “LOL”.
The parent should be at 0, not −1. It’s perfectly okay to express something like “LOL” once in a while.
Of course it is—if you’re willing to take the karma hit for a comment that adds nothing to the conversation.
But it does add to the conversation, in the same way as karma does. It provides the author of the comment valuable feedback about how their comment was perceived. Yes, karma has a similar function, but we react more to written comments than abstract numbers.
The point was, there shouldn’t be a karma hit for “adding nothing to the conversation”. It should be okay to simply express a reaction without taking a karma hit. The score for “adding nothing” is 0; a negative score indicates that the comment subtracted something from the conversation. To downvote a comment is to actively discourage such a comment from being posted. I don’t think such comments should be actively discouraged.
Dilution of good content is subtraction, if not as bad as the addition of bad content. I really do have no desire to see a bare “LOL”, and will continue to vote accordingly.
There is no significant dilution occurring here. If we were flooded by “LOL” comments, or a particular user posted them with inappropriate frequency, that would be a different situation.
You are being too harsh. For my part, I have no desire to see this kind of non-niceness on here, just because we’re interested in high-quality content. It subtracts a lot more from the experience here than an occasional “LOL”.
Downvoting everything above this comment in this thread as a matter of principle.
Joking LOL.