Please Bring Back Our Downvotes: Society Desperately Needs It

Post by justin_oaks » Wed, Jul 28, 2021, 4:15 PM UTC

shoemakersteve wrote: post #233

dmpk2k wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me taking a shit? :)

Is it right for you be taxed for using the sewer system? What are the environmental impacts of the massive scale of human shit having to be processed in treatment plants? Why does the government prevent me from shitting wherever I want, infringing on my freedom? First they take away your rights to shit on your neighbour's porch, then they take away your rights to see your kids on weekends. Stepping stones to tyranny.

Post by Popegaf » Wed, Jul 28, 2021, 4:17 PM UTC

kbelder wrote: post #231

crb3 wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe what's needed is explicit Agree and Disagree buttons, with indicators, to skim off such pollution of up/downvotes-as-QC?

That would be an interesting experiment. Make it a 2D axis... Agree Disagree, and Low Quality High Quality. Only allow voting on one of the options.

Post by forbiddenvoid » Wed, Jul 28, 2021, 4:21 PM UTC

pugets wrote: post #147

dahart wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like you have a lot more fear and assumption than experience here. In reality, crazy unfair downvote bombing is not even close to the norm here in my ~decade of experience. What makes you certain that someone with multiple accounts has downvoted you? Are you sure you weren’t just wrong and didn’t know it? I’ve been wrong in good faith and gotten fairly downvoted for it far, far more often than I’ve been unf…

I think it depends on the website. I used Reddit between 2012-2020 and I believe that website's community was ruined by the upvote/downvote system. For me, what it always comes back to is this: A downvote is meant to indicate "this comment does not contribute to the conversation," but many website userbases misuse downvotes to say "I disagree." If upvotes/downvotes are proxies for agrees/disagrees, then the comment s…

Post by city41 » Wed, Jul 28, 2021, 4:23 PM UTC

Popegaf wrote: post #261

city41 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My main issue with downvotes is they are almost always used incorrectly. Including here at HN. They are not meant to be an "agree/disagree" button, but rather a way to filter out content that is not relevant to the discussion at hand. Disagreeing does not mean it is irrelevant, especially if it is well written and in good faith. We should allow all viewpoints that are put forward with proper intentions. Upvotes are e…

Hold on, HN has downvote buttons? I don't see them. Are they for mods?

Post by commandlinefan » Wed, Jul 28, 2021, 4:26 PM UTC

crazy_horse wrote: post #21

I've been in academia for awhile, I'm used to getting serious criticism. I'm a man, my whole life I've been told to toughen up. There's really almost nothing you can say to me that is going to hurt me. I really mean it. But downvotes? I pretty much won't post on HN or Reddit because of them (and the culture associated with it). I've got no problem being wrong, but when I spend a significant amount of time trying to r…