Downvotes help to mitigate disinformation, ads, etc. It’s a big reason why old reddit posts are such a good resource for so many topics. When any random idiot can post garbage on the same footing as an actually useful comment, you end up with Facebook or those copy paste/AI articles at the top of Google searches.
toxicbubble@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I’d rather we get rid of downvotes, serves no purpose but too “disagree”
Dagrothus@reddthat.com 8 months ago
moriquende@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Yeah but I mean that’s a pretty good purpose
lemann@lemmy.one 8 months ago
🔥Hot take - I think unless the post being disagreed with is some kind of troll or spam post, the op or ocer might appreciate a discussion around it.
People usually disagree because they view something from a different perspective, and most times that perspective could be a valuable thing to share IMO
Lord_ToRA@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Downvotes shouldn’t be used for simply “I disagree” but “this content does not belong”, otherwise I would agree with you.
Val@lemm.ee 8 months ago
If you think something doesn’t belong just ignore it. It does no harm by existing. If the downvote does anything people will use it for disagreeing.
I think disagreeing should be should be voiced in a reply instead so it becomes clear why you disagree.
Lord_ToRA@lemmy.world 8 months ago
It does no harm by existing.
Wat. I mean, not all comments but there are many many times where it does. Misinformation/disinformation, general toxicity, or just being completely off-topic. These types of comments can destroy a community if left unchecked.
Val@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Misinformation should be handled by moderation. Toxicity should be ignored because recognizing it gives it power. Off topic comments can easily be collapsed (or maybe there should be a method to mark them as off-topic by moderators) and off topic posts should be removed.
Nahvi@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I am not a fan of this idea, but there are instances with no down vote button. If you prefer it no down vote button, it isn’t too hard to find those instances.
lemann@lemmy.one 8 months ago
There are lemmy instances where downvotes are disabled. It also affects the sorting ‘algorithm’ too IIRC, so browsing on a no-downvote instance vs the opposite can yield quite a different looking feed.
It also allows you to look at content from a different perspective, rather than passing by something that’s been bonked with tons of downvotes.
Active moderation is pretty key though where there isn’t the possibility to downvote, mainly because off topic/spam content can’t be downvoted and won’t disappear from feeds unless deleted by a mod.
Lemmy mods are generally really proactive with removing spam/offtopic stuff IMO, so I’d say to give it a shot if you’re interested. A lot of no-downvote instances aren’t federated with lemmy.world though, and my current one has closed signups so it might be tricky.
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 8 months ago
Upvote: “I like this.”
Downvote: “I hate this/you”
Comment105@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Screw that nonsense. Trash exists and should be binned, your comment case-in-point.
PatFussy@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Downvotes basically allows for dogpiling and allows stupid people to circlejerk. Also, i am perfectly ok with getting downvotes but others are not. These weak boned sensitive weenies delete their comments the first sign that people disagree so thats why you see everyone agreeing on everything. This is compounded with the fact that the fediverse is a series of bubbles so, for instance, i will immediately know I will disagree with someone if they have a lemmigrad or hexbear in their name.
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 8 months ago
Upvotes can be used to dogpile misinformation and also to circle jerk. I’ve always felt this argument against down votes is weak, at best. Might as well get rid of voting entirely.
Comment105@lemm.ee 8 months ago
And so can comments. Better remove all of them to protect the public from excessive disapproval or approval.
Scubus@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
If they delete their comment because it got down voted, it wasn’t worth having their opinion on pemmy to begin with. I love when the trash takes itself out.