Of course, we all know what they would have used if they were real pros:
Or could combine the two for even more joy.
If you get downvoted, it's because HN community takes a somewhat strict approach when moderating comments that contribute noise to the conversation. "Nice article!" comments are routinely downvoted. As is sarcasm, witticisms, memes, references and other styles of comments that occur frequently but do not contribute to the discussion. It's a knowingly doomed attempt to hold back the flood of noise that covers Reddit.
Yeah... There are a lot more jokes and sarcasm being voted up on HN these days. It's always been around, but it used to be voted down a lot more. Can't say I'm happy about that change. It seems the fate of all vote-based communities to eventually devolve into Digg 3.0...
After all, who is to know that a "throwaway" account actually gets thrown away?
That's the problem when forums have a lot of sarcasm. It becomes even more difficult for anyone to judge your intentions. When people in "witty" forums say mean/dumb things they get surprised by how many readers think they are serious. And, some of them respond with mean/dumb things in seriousness. And, in not-seriousness... Usually there's an indistinguishable mix. And, even when you say something constructive, a lot of people will assume a negative intention and get upset that you are so disparaging.
So, yeah. Every few months I get in the mood to welcome a witty noob. Doesn't always go well :P
This sounds too convoluted a process.
We have vote up and vote down buttons. If the people like and upvote a funny (but trivial) comment, in the end it's their prerogative.
FWIW Steam has a second voting dimension for humour in users game reviews.