[rolph]

everyone has different reasons for flagging, some people flag because they disagree in some way with the topic others flag because theyve seen the subject before ad nauseum, and it always leads to a degenerate commentary.

I have a hunch some flaggers may not yet have enough karma to downvote, but enough to flag so they flag in lieu of downvoting but thats just a guess.

another thing to consider, is that HN comments do show up in google searches at times, so cleaning things up quick is a positive thing regarding, profanities, or potential liabilities.

[greenyoda]

> I have a hunch some flaggers may not yet have enough karma to downvote, but enough to flag so they flag in lieu of downvoting but thats just a guess.

Flagging is only supposed to be used for violations of site guidelines (off-topic, spam, uncivil or unsubstantive comment, duplicate submission, etc.), not for disagreement. People who flag on-topic articles or comments may get their flagging privileges revoked by the moderators.

[rolph]

yup, i can forsee some mistakes as well. ive had a couple times i was sure i hit fav but hit the flag, as was evidenced by the unflag option in its place. so commentors do have the option of unflagging for a period of time. The algo flags are an other matter