Ask HN: Why can I only downvote select comments?

5•socalgal2•7h ago

It's obvious that you can not downvote a reply to your own comments but, today I noticed, in a topic I had no comments in, I was only allowed to downvote about 20% of the comments. The rest presented to downvote button. The conspiracy voice in me thought I was only allowed to downvote things the staff at HN wanted downvoted.

What's the actual rule? Why were most comments off limits to downvote?

Comments

BoorishBears•7h ago

I don't think HN staff would ever do that, but what was the topic?

krapp•7h ago

You can email the staff using the contact link at the bottom of the page.

BLKNSLVR•7h ago

I can't answer the question, but I've seen it where some comments I can't downvote, but others in the same thread I can. Additionally, some I can't reply to either.

I would lean towards there being a good reason. It also doesn't particularly bother me if I can't register my displeasure. Can be a good thing to be forced not to.

ThrowawayR2•7h ago

Comments posted more than 24 hours ago cannot be downvoted.

socalgal2•6h ago

Thanks! I think this is it. Even though it was on the front page I think I didn't realize the topic was old enough to have 24hr old comments as it was not on the front page 10hrs earlier

akerl_•7h ago

This would be way easier to clarify if you’d provided context on which comments you were looking at.

The conspiracy voice in me thought maybe you know this is a benign thing and you’re just hunting for something to be outraged about.

optionalsquid•2h ago

You might enjoy this list of undocumented HN features, which includes an answer to your question:

https://github.com/minimaxir/hacker-news-undocumented/blob/m...

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Comments

Anyone miss a flip phone with buttons? Anyone?

Ask HN: Why can I only downvote select comments?

Ask HN: Fable hacked my piano, can I release the results?

Ask HN: How do you manage skills files?

Ask HN: Software Licenses that prevent LLMs from training on open source?

Apparently CodePen 2.0 sends data to their servers as you type

Ask HN: Next day thoughts on the millenium prize threads?

Ask HN: Do you regret using Social Networking apps?

Reddit saves your keystrokes in text boxes

Ask HN: Would you read a statistics textbook?

Ask HN: Is there any solution to the AI infestation?

Ask HN: How to know when Claude has changed model itself during processing?

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Ask HN: What non-IT/Software industries have benefitted the most from AI?

Ask HN: Show your micro-SaaS

Is Google planning for Gemini 4 rather than 3.5 pro?

Ask HN: 3.5 inch diskette read errors, would a period correct drive do better?

Ask HN: What's your AI coding set up?

Ask HN: Are you leveraging Spec-Driven / Spec-Anchored development?

Ask HN: Any Software Engineers here who enjoy their AI-native dev workflow?

Ask HN: Connecting Kubernetes dependencies to application telemetry

Ask HN: Is ageism in tech still a problem in 2026?

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Tell HN: OpenAI keeps stealing my money

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