The voting feature is as close to a useless feature as I can imagine. Not only is the voting prone to abuse since it is not in the user's interest to promote jobs to others. But if you do vote, it's more like an Iranian voting system. Your vote has no effect on the user experience of the site itself. It's just information that's tallied for statistical purposes for the companies who post jobs. Hard to see what sets this site apart from, say, Craigslist, except that Craigslist provides a more reliable indicator of job popularity - people applying for jobs. So another social site launches a job board - does this really need to be on Techcrunch or Hacker News? Very disappointing.
There can be a signficant difference between the kinds of problems our friends help us with and and the kinds of problems that shrinks have unique information to help us with.
For example, I have a friend who has just turned 40, is still a virgin and is consulting a psychiatrist to decide whether to lose his virginity to a prostitute. I have given him my take on it which basically boils down to "get laid by whatever means necessary" but he is taking a more empirical approach and wants the advice of an expert on all of the possible psychological ramifications of his act before the fact.
Am I delinquent as a friend because I don't have enough information to answer his question? No. I'm not trained in psychology although I can give him some of my guesses about possible psychological ramifications - excitement, anxiety, guilt, wanting to go back for more.
However, because of his empirical leanings, his question is best answered by a professional. But to say that all he is looking for is "sympathy" would be a gross misunderstanding of the valuable role that a therapist can play because of his/her unique traning. My friend wants facts backed up by studies and he doesn't have the time or training to find those answers efficiently himself.
So to talk about 'mental illness' and 'sympathy' as being the primary distinguishing features of psychiatry vs friendship is a gross oversimplication of both.
Didn't mean to give the impression I don't know where I am. I realize I am not on Reddit currently - I don't hear the sound of wild dogs grinding their teeth.
Thanks for checking - I edited my question to make it more clear hopefully. But, no, I meant Reddit. I just started using Reddit recently but the site scares me. I feel like I'm surrounded by a pack of feral dogs.
Aside from that, the HN voting algorithm is pretty straighforward for a new user to figure out. Whereas on Reddit I never know whether the vote I see is the one that is actually registered for me. When I log out of my account I often see that my vote didn't "stick". I don't think that's a good policy on Reddit's part. Just let me know honestly that I'm not at the level yet where my vote can count like a more experienced member.