-1 or the thumbs down reaction, I think is a mistake. They aren't usually that constructive, because most of the time they are used as retaliation against a specific user, instead of constructive criticism. If someone downvotes you, you tend to downvote them. At the least, it should be a privilege to down vote, like SO and HN do. http://stackoverflow.com/help/privileges/vote-down
I just want to elaborate on this a bit more: Implementing a downvote button is inviting baseless disagreement . It makes it socially acceptable to say that you disagree, without ever providing an argument or being expected to do so - this is precisely what you don't want, on what is supposed to be a constructive platform. This will (indirectly and directly) lead to populism, where unpopular opinions get dismissed out…
Add Reactions to Pull Requests, Issues, and Comments
61–70 of 238 posts
Re: Add Reactions to Pull Requests, Issues, and Comments
#62-1 or the thumbs down reaction, I think is a mistake. They aren't usually that constructive, because most of the time they are used as retaliation against a specific user, instead of constructive criticism. If someone downvotes you, you tend to downvote them. At the least, it should be a privilege to down vote, like SO and HN do. http://stackoverflow.com/help/privileges/vote-down
Re: Add Reactions to Pull Requests, Issues, and Comments
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
I just want to elaborate on this a bit more: Implementing a downvote button is inviting baseless disagreement . It makes it socially acceptable to say that you disagree, without ever providing an argument or being expected to do so - this is precisely what you don't want, on what is supposed to be a constructive platform. This will (indirectly and directly) lead to populism, where unpopular opinions get dismissed out…
> Seriously, GitHub, this is rule one of designing constructive social platforms: you never ever ever implement a downvote button of any kind. It seems ironic you'd post this on a platform that has a downvote button.
Re: Add Reactions to Pull Requests, Issues, and Comments
#64Re: Add Reactions to Pull Requests, Issues, and Comments
#65-1 or the thumbs down reaction, I think is a mistake. They aren't usually that constructive, because most of the time they are used as retaliation against a specific user, instead of constructive criticism. If someone downvotes you, you tend to downvote them. At the least, it should be a privilege to down vote, like SO and HN do. http://stackoverflow.com/help/privileges/vote-down
I just want to elaborate on this a bit more: Implementing a downvote button is inviting baseless disagreement . It makes it socially acceptable to say that you disagree, without ever providing an argument or being expected to do so - this is precisely what you don't want, on what is supposed to be a constructive platform. This will (indirectly and directly) lead to populism, where unpopular opinions get dismissed out…
Nevertheless, some people find them useful.
I don’t think it’s 100% clear-cut that you should never ever implement downvotes. I’d say that downvotes need to be implemented in conjunction with a bunch of other features and active moderation policies to work well. I don’t know if HN has done so, or if GitHub has done so. But... I wouldn’t dismiss them out of hand.
(FWIW, I follow this policy: I either downvote, or reply, but never both. In this case, I disagree with you, but think the conversation is useful, so I reply. Other comments might be wildly off-topic or deeply non-constructive, and those I down-vote. But to each their own.)
Re: Add Reactions to Pull Requests, Issues, and Comments
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I just want to elaborate on this a bit more: Implementing a downvote button is inviting baseless disagreement . It makes it socially acceptable to say that you disagree, without ever providing an argument or being expected to do so - this is precisely what you don't want, on what is supposed to be a constructive platform. This will (indirectly and directly) lead to populism, where unpopular opinions get dismissed out…
Without agreeing or disagreeing, StackExchange/Reddit are hugely popular and both have downvotes.
Re: Add Reactions to Pull Requests, Issues, and Comments
#67-1 or the thumbs down reaction, I think is a mistake. They aren't usually that constructive, because most of the time they are used as retaliation against a specific user, instead of constructive criticism. If someone downvotes you, you tend to downvote them. At the least, it should be a privilege to down vote, like SO and HN do. http://stackoverflow.com/help/privileges/vote-down
I just want to elaborate on this a bit more: Implementing a downvote button is inviting baseless disagreement . It makes it socially acceptable to say that you disagree, without ever providing an argument or being expected to do so - this is precisely what you don't want, on what is supposed to be a constructive platform. This will (indirectly and directly) lead to populism, where unpopular opinions get dismissed out…
But I guess it's a size and topic thing. If your site has a mature userbase, a limited topic or is mostly a pretty tight knit community, adding a downvote button tends to be a decent enough thing to do. Same if you have to acquire the privilege to use it.
Re: Add Reactions to Pull Requests, Issues, and Comments
#68Finally. Let's just hope it doesn't email you when someone leave's a +1 reaction.
It definitely solves the horrible problem of too many +1s everywhere, but there are times when getting those emails are helpful.
Re: Add Reactions to Pull Requests, Issues, and Comments
#69-1 or the thumbs down reaction, I think is a mistake. They aren't usually that constructive, because most of the time they are used as retaliation against a specific user, instead of constructive criticism. If someone downvotes you, you tend to downvote them. At the least, it should be a privilege to down vote, like SO and HN do. http://stackoverflow.com/help/privileges/vote-down
I just want to elaborate on this a bit more: Implementing a downvote button is inviting baseless disagreement . It makes it socially acceptable to say that you disagree, without ever providing an argument or being expected to do so - this is precisely what you don't want, on what is supposed to be a constructive platform. This will (indirectly and directly) lead to populism, where unpopular opinions get dismissed out…
People who don't agree with something should have a way of expressing their views. Why is it acceptable to have a +1 button but not a -1 button? Why can people agree without giving any reason for their agreement but they can't disagree without giving any reason for their agreement? It's crazy that society works in this way and that people have such an irrational response to disagreement.