My instance has downvoting enabled, but I’ve learned that some other instances do not. Do the vote totals look different to users on different instances? It seems like some users on instances that don’t allow downvoting are unaware that it’s not the same lemmy-wide. It would be pretty confusing for them to see their vote go down.

  • GONADS125English
    15•1 year ago

    Downvotes have a very important function. They are meant to suppress irrelevant discussion, trolls, and hate.

    The problem is people on reddit stopped following reddiquette many years ago, and they became dis/agree buttons.

    But if there is an off-topic post and there’s no downvotes possible, that irrelevant content cannot be properly suppressed by downvotes, and is more likely to rise.

    This causes the boundaries/purpose of a specific community to become muddied. I can’t tell you haw many subreddits I saw devolve into nothing but shitposting memes. Not having downvotes just makes that problem much worse.

    Downvotes are important for the site to function properly. Even right here, idiots are downvoting you simply because you have a dissenting opinion. It is not a disagreement button. I upvoted your comment even tho I wholeheartedly disagree, because you are contributing healthy discourse.

    And for the people in instances like yours who I see saying how refreshing it is to be able to comment without fear of downvotes, you’re being too sensitive… It’s imaginary internet points. That should never be the basis for your self-worth and self-confidence. That’s only going to make your shell even more fragile. Hypersensitivity isn’t healthy. It’s okay to disagree with each other.

    • Cevilia (she/they/…)English
      7•1 year ago

      Respectfully, I am aware of the intended function. My point is nothing to do with the intended function, it’s to do with how downvotes are misused in practice. I already knew that people would misuse the downvote function simply because I disagree with the majority opinion.

      Fortunately, it’s not a binary choice. There is a place for people on the fediverse who like to have downvotes. There is also a place for people who do not. :)