142

Lets remove this

This dialog box pops up so much that it's annoying. Please have it removed or allow something like 5 comment upvotes every 5 seconds.

At the least, make the box very small or replace the vote button with another graphic for 5 seconds.

18
  • 102
    +1 This bugs me. It seems strange that you can up vote answers as fast as you want, but not comments (especially when answers provide rep and comments don't).
    – Zifre
    Commented Jul 26, 2009 at 20:15
  • 11
    agreed. I have always assumed it was because there is no limit on the number of comment up votes one can cast, and this is a way to regulate the volume. Commented Jul 26, 2009 at 20:21
  • 7
    I don't think 5 seconds is entirely unreasonable to read a comment and give it some vague consideration that you agree with it. Commented Jul 26, 2009 at 20:33
  • 107
    I tend to read all the comments, and then go through and vote where applicable. The pointless 5 second restriction is VERY annoying. Commented Jul 26, 2009 at 20:41
  • 10
    It's pretty pointless considering it doesn't even change someone's rep. Unless Jeff has additional plans that I'm unaware of. Commented Jul 26, 2009 at 20:45
  • 6
    I hate the picture quality in this post. Is that a jpeg?
    – Kredns
    Commented Jul 26, 2009 at 20:54
  • 6
    I hate that I don't have enough reputation on meta to fix the typo in the question.
    – Nosredna
    Commented Jul 26, 2009 at 21:27
  • 41
    I hate all this hate. Commented Jul 27, 2009 at 17:44
  • 37
    I like Cheesecake. Commented Jul 27, 2009 at 17:46
  • 12
    I wish I could downvote comments... if only someone suggested such a feature
    – juan
    Commented Jul 27, 2009 at 18:02
  • 3
    Wait, there isn't a comment vote limit? I was pretty sure I maxed out once.
    – mmyers
    Commented Jul 27, 2009 at 18:59
  • 13
    I posted something very similar, but marginally less drastic than allowing more votes - allowing 12 comment votes a minute, rather than 1 comment every 5 seconds (same number, just less annoying).. meta.stackexchange.com/questions/382/…
    – dbr
    Commented Jul 29, 2009 at 16:09
  • 9
    This comment is random and should not be upvoted, even by someone just spamming up votes!
    – Kzqai
    Commented Feb 12, 2010 at 19:43
  • 6
    Like dbr above, I have also created a thread which argues that the problem is not the mechanism but the overkill that is the error presentation. Problems with the current error: - Brings up a popup. - Displays the most visually noisesome red error I have yet seen on the site, total overkill. - Remains open until you manually click close it. That thread is open for posting alternatives here: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/39281/…
    – Kzqai
    Commented Feb 12, 2010 at 20:25
  • 3
    What is annoying is that I can't count seconds. Even if I count to five, I end up voting too early. Commented Sep 10, 2013 at 16:21

3 Answers 3

38

Jeff's not explicitly stated here (but otherwise mentioned other places) reasoning, as far as I can tell, for declining this request:

  • Less than 5 seconds would lead to a drastic increase in up votes for comments.
  • This is bad, because
    • Jeff does not want comments to become too much of a platform for expressing one's opinion
    • (On Questions with many Answers) comments with some/high votes are filtered into the main page views, and those without are hidden, and need to be explicitly expanded to be seen. Increase the comment votes too much and this functionality loses its value or ability to segregate the worthy from the unworthy.
  • He has demonstrated this, somewhat cryptically, by up voting every comment before his in this question.
  • Jeff just gets stubborn that way about certain points. If the idea truly is decent, he'll come along eventually. It's his website, he can cry if he wants to...cry if he wants to.

The man has a vision, and extensive comment voting is not in that vision.

7
  • 57
    Vision is great (and, it's worked out pretty well), but not explaining your decision reasoning in a site that claims to be driven by the community isn't really the best of ideas. Commented Jul 27, 2009 at 18:36
  • 4
    The reasoning was not spelled out, per se, but demonstrated with every comment in the question getting an up vote. Guess who did that? Commented Jul 27, 2009 at 18:53
  • 20
    Surely he can at least remove that large box (which you need to click to get rid of), and instead just disable the comment vote graphic for 5 seconds? Commented Jul 27, 2009 at 20:10
  • 4
    And, other the other hand, this site is not functional by implementing any and every change a user suggests that comes along. As I noted, if it is deemed worthy it will come along. I am not even arguing against your idea, but rather the "Jeff doesn't care about us little folk" whining on this thread, as displayed by you and others. SO has done a great job of listening to users, as you yourself seem to be aware of. Commented Jul 27, 2009 at 21:06
  • 3
    For the record: I like Cheesecake too. Commented Jul 27, 2009 at 21:07
  • 2
    But there already is a daily limit for comment votes. Commented May 26, 2013 at 9:02
  • 11
    "Less than 5 seconds would lead to a drastic increase in up votes for comments." No it wouldn't. It would just increase the rate at which they are upvoted. I'm going to upvote that valuable comment no matter how many obstacles you put in my way.
    – endolith
    Commented Aug 20, 2013 at 18:18
21
+300

Why it bothers me? Sometimes I read a comment that is a good question, and, since it IS a good question, I want to read the next comment right away because now I'm dying of curiosity! Now, I'm satisfied, both a good question and a good answer, I want to upvote both!

A good solution that will prevent us being annoyed and abusers from ...abusing: Allow 3 comment upvotes in 15 seconds! (assuming the time from page load is >15sec, otherwise spammers/abusers get's 2 extra upvotes at no 'cost'.)

There, you have exactly 100% the same efficacy against spammers/abusers, and you do not annoy the poor curious readers with short attention spans for upvotes.

3
  • And when i say a comment that is a question i do not mean random question, but on getting more info from the original question.
    – gcb
    Commented Jun 10, 2013 at 3:07
  • 11
    I tend to process comments in two phases - read concentrating on the flow, and then vote. At the end of reading, I may know I like two or three of the comments. It seems silly to have to count off five seconds between casting the votes. Commented Aug 9, 2013 at 20:23
  • 1
    @LowerClassOverflowian An arguable point, depending on one's definition of "social network". For example, one of my research projects applied social network analysis to some communications among some computer science students and faculty. However, I don't see the relevance to the issue of allowing multiple comment upvotes. Commented Feb 28, 2014 at 19:58
18

Along these lines, how about removing the restriction for those above 10k rep? Or even some other number.

2
  • 10
    Better make this a brand new suggestion. I don't think anybody's going to pay much attention to something that is already declined. Also see meta.stackexchange.com/questions/19874/… Maybe if this question keeps bouncing back, Jeff will see how it is disproportionately impacting the user experience. Commented Jun 16, 2010 at 19:41
  • 5
    How about removing the restriction for those above 0k rep?
    – endolith
    Commented Nov 24, 2011 at 0:41

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