Don't be a jerk
It seems like this is an instance of a more general trend:  The commenting ecosystem is in decline.  It's better than Reddit, but it's a shadow of what it once was.I've noticed downvotes are trending now.  The downvotes do correct themselves... most of the time.  But there's a lot more frivolous downvoting due to the influx of people that have attained downvote privileges but haven't really shunned the mindset of other community sites that encourage that sort of thing.  Eight years ago, pg wrote about a problem that may be happening here now: http://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/15n2/the_incontr...It used to be that you could hold a contrarian opinion and not be at risk of being jumped on by the community or your position being misinterpreted.  That seems no longer the case: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8143432The person you responded to may have deleted their question because they're worried about how people might judge them for merely asking the question.  Since HN consists of people you may be working with in the future, people have to be more concerned about choosing their words (and questions) carefully.  It's not so easy to just speak your mind or ask innocent questions anymore when your identity is tied with your handle.I don't know if there's a solution.  There may not be another vibrant community of developers for another decade, for the same reason there isn't a second vibrant online auctioning site.  Smart people are on HN because other smart people are on HN.  The only solution I can think of is to resist letting irksome things irk you.  Easier said than done, but it beats giving up.