I think you're on the right track. In my experience, funny is not downvoted for funny's sake. However, there's a strong correlation between funny comments and short/low quality/insubstantial comments, and the latter will get downvoted.
If you want to be funny, be interesting at the same time. If you can't, then save the joke for reddit.
I think there's a bias against funny and amusing comments, and I think it's appropriate. The internet is an inexhaustible source of mildly amusing, even fairly funny stuff. There's a limited amount of room on the HN front page, and it shouldn't be wasted on humor of the quality that can be found in vast quantities all over the internet.
Comments
I think you're on the right track. In my experience, funny is not downvoted for funny's sake. However, there's a strong correlation between funny comments and short/low quality/insubstantial comments, and the latter will get downvoted.
If you want to be funny, be interesting at the same time. If you can't, then save the joke for reddit.
I think there's a bias against funny and amusing comments, and I think it's appropriate. The internet is an inexhaustible source of mildly amusing, even fairly funny stuff. There's a limited amount of room on the HN front page, and it shouldn't be wasted on humor of the quality that can be found in vast quantities all over the internet.