I am guessing that the only change made here was removal of the comment point value, no sorting changes?
I ask only because if this experiment becomes permanent its good public knowledge.
EDIT: I meant to include my thoughts on the change. If this change was made with the mindset that "friends" will automatically vote eachother up I think its probably a mistake. My reasoning here is that the voting up will still occur regardless of the value shown or not, if anything it might promote people to vote someone they like up just to contribute to the magical score thats hidden away. If they were to see that the person already has 10 votes its possible they might feel that was enough value already assigned to the comment.
I ask only because if this experiment becomes permanent its good public knowledge.
EDIT: I meant to include my thoughts on the change. If this change was made with the mindset that "friends" will automatically vote eachother up I think its probably a mistake. My reasoning here is that the voting up will still occur regardless of the value shown or not, if anything it might promote people to vote someone they like up just to contribute to the magical score thats hidden away. If they were to see that the person already has 10 votes its possible they might feel that was enough value already assigned to the comment.