On one hand, I completely and totally hear you. The thing that people don't think about is that they do color someone's initial impression of a comment. So you're significantly more likely to get more negative engagement from others that way. It's why some places/sites sometimes obscure the initial votes for a set number of time.

mostly agree but when someone's coordinating multiple accounts, it's a form of astroturfed censorship at some point. especially for people who sort comments by hot / top.

you might be fine with him being silenced, but don't act like it's benign.

This. Just laugh at the idea that there's someone out there with such a sad existence that they spend time stalking people on this app.