zlacker

>>pg+(OP)
Allow commenters themselves to publicly flag their own comments to prevent them from accruing karma. Call it the "sincerity" flag. Actually, this is my #1 top feature request for HN, period.

>>tptace+l5
Hmm, can you elaborate?

>>akkart+t5
The parent to your comment, my original comment, is currently scored at 1. I would like to push a button to make 1 the ceiling score for that comment. I would actually like a button to make 1 the ceiling score for all my comments, too.

>>tptace+Q5
But how would this help improve comments? Wouldn't the worst-behaved also be the least likely to hit such a button?

>>akkart+G7
One reason comment threads get tendentious is when people think other people are commenting to game the thread and collect karma. The karma-ceiling flag tries to say "this is a good faith comment".

>>tptace+T7
So by implication the rest of the commenters who haven't so flagged their own comments are not commenting in good faith?

Why not just make 1 the ceiling karma for all comments across the board? Or, in other words, why not get rid of karma all together?

I guess I'm still confused by how your proposal will solve anything.

It seems pretty clear that those people who really are commenting in good faith and aren't doing so to accumulate karma won't be swayed by whatever karma they may get (positive or negative).

So what does explicitly limiting the karma those good-faith commenters get achieve?