Downvote matters

Giving a community the ability to vote on content is important, especially on comment platforms. It's funny to think that some platforms still list comments chronologically.

Upvotes are a simple way to convey support, and it does a great job at pushing the good things to the top.

Even our political system is based on this idea. Since the days of ancient greece, polling for our desired representative has been the dominant way of organising society.

Although this ensures fairness, oftentimes politics is also just a big popularity contest.

Social platforms, especially Facebook and Twitter, thrive on this notion.

What's more, irrelevant content will remain, and spam will not be removed.

Sometimes you have to be negative to be positive.

Downvotes help curtail the spam, the troublemakers and the trolls. If you feel like you don't notice the bad side of comments, thank the community and the downvote (moderators play a large part as well, but we'll save that for another post).

Also thank the downvote for erasing the comments that go against the general consensus - that's the community using the downvote as an expression of disagreement.

So the next time you upvote or downvote, make sure you're asking whether the comment contributes, not whether you agree or disagree.

Shout out to Ben Morran for unpacking my writers block! 

The Verge loses the marginal user.

Comments are an impulse thing, you experience something and want to react.

I think it's really important to reduce the friction between the moment someone wants to comment and the action of doing so.

I had a not so great experience recently while reading the verge online.

After reading the article and then comments section, I wanted to pass my own comment. 

I don't normally sign up for additional online accounts but I thought I'd try it out. So the registration process was pretty simple: username/ password/ email. 

But after logging in, I was told that I couldn't comment, because they need to verify my account and this would happen in a days time.

As a result, they lost my comment. 

I'm patient user and frequent commenter, so the additional wait is fine for someone like me. 

But to really popularise commenting platforms, you need to make it as easy as possible for the marginal user, for them to experience the magic moment, and for them to contribute. 

But what about all those impatient users that leave at a moments notice. The verge created an unnecessary barrier to commenting that would deter many potential users. The worst thing is that they are unmeasurable! 

If you're interested in the marginal user, watch Lecture 6 of the 'how to start a startup' series. Alex Schulz from Facebook highlights the importance they put on the marginal user rather than just the power user.