zlacker

>>tonmoy+(OP)
The one thing I wish was added - either in the guidelines or as a change to the actual web UI - was replying to a comment that you're downvoting; it's frustrating both to have one's own comments downvoted without explanation, and to come across a comment that's grey without obvious reason (Was it factually incorrect? Endorsing an unpopular idea? It's not always obvious).

(I'm not saying HN should do exactly the same thing, but one example is Slashdot's system where a comment can get downvoted in a way that tags it specifically as trolling/offtopic/whatever - https://slashdot.org/faq/mod-metamod.shtml seems to describe it alright)

>>yjftsj+3c
Comments to explain downvotes are nice, and should perhaps be encouraged, but they certainly shouldn't be mandatory.

>>TRiG_I+Id
> Comments to explain downvotes are nice

Downvotes are for material that does not support productive discussion, if it is productive to discuss a comment (even on a meta level like “why it is a bad comment”?), then downvoting is inappropriate.