[alexhektor]

outside of the content of of the comment, top comment doesn't necessarily mean the most held opinion.

Especially if a comment is thoughtfully written, contains multiple aspects and might just get upvotes for reasonably looking at both sides like in this thread. Being thoughtful, mindful, respecting and trying to not see something in black and white can get upvotes just for being like that. And that's just one tiny aspect of why top comment isn't necessarily the most popular argument. Timing (resulting in more views and possibly upvotes) and other facotrs all play a role (not sure how much this is mitigated by the ranking algorithm.

[Springtime]

I'd add too that often on such sites the range of submitted subjects are broad enough that those voting don't necessarily have domain familiarity or expertise, so when a comment reads like it has a solid argument readers may upvote it to test the robustness of its premise by way of seeing if others make more compelling counter-arguments or strengthen/agree with it.

Ie: the voters themselves may not hold any personal opinion on the matter.

[tiahura]

Lawyer here. IA’s position was indefensible and reeked of a personal agenda. Given the value of IA, it was deeply irresponsible.