[nsgoetz]

Maybe just making the downvote button more like the "report" button on facebook. Force people to either select from a few common reasons, or leave a comment to explain their downvote. This could also gently enforce norms for what the downvote is for, since some people new to HN might not realize it isn't the same as reddit. Obviously there are details to iron out, but I think it would be helpful.

[DanBC]

Reddit and many subreddits have rules that downvoting should not be done for disagreement.

HN has no such rule.

[WikipediasBad]

I think that's because hacker news is actually smart and not delusional like reddit. On reddit it's a de facto disagree button but a de jure spam report button. It's like they are in denial of what 99% of users use it for or they just don't want to admit it and ignore that fact.