zlacker

There's a counterbalancing option to downvotes and flags - you can "vouch" comments. Enough people using it[0] can make the software unkill a comment provisionally, though doing this puts your own reputation and vouching rights at stake, since according to [0], vouched comments are eventually reviewed manually.

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[0] - Not sure what's the power of a vouch relative to a flag or a downvote, but my impression is that it's stronger.

[1] - https://blog.ycombinator.com/two-hn-announcements/

>>TeMPOr+(OP)
Yes, and I use both when I feel it's appropriate. However, it's still fundamentally a popularity contest rather than guidelines enforcement. If enough people simply don't like what a post has to say it will stay grey/dead.

I'm coming to the opinion that downvoting should not grey out posts, or that there should be some number of downvotes (greater than 1) required before it starts. It should be harder to suppress constructive, on-topic posts just because a bunch of people don't like the point.