this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2023
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I used to downvote fairly often on Reddit as a sign to disagree or to push down really disgusting bigoted comments. And to be honest, it became a habit to just downvote without replying. However, now that Iโ€™m on lemmy and not Reddit Iโ€™ve been actively trying to not instantly downvote things and instead move on or take the time to reply. Has anyone else been trying to do this?

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[โ€“] mrmanager 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

It's not used for pushing irrelevant or spammy content. It's used to show you don't agree and push that content away from sight. At least be honest about that if you support using downvotes.

People act like they are making the thread better in some way by cleaning trash. But that's not what happens. You are just making sure opinions you don't agree with are at the bottom of the thread. Nothing noble about that. Feels good, sure.

[โ€“] Serinus@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're phrasing it in a way that is actively harmful. It's like you're trying to make downvotes worse than they are.

They're absolutely useful, but not for just opinions you don't like.

[โ€“] mrmanager 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think we just have different experiences with downvotes. I see them being harmful, yes. Because they are used to disagree, not to flag incorrect content, in subreddits (communities) where opinions are discussed. In technical fact-based subreddits they may work fine, but in discussion-based ones, they are horrible and leads to one opinion at the top always.

[โ€“] Serinus@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

There's a difference between acknowledging people use downvotes incorrectly and encouraging them to use downvotes incorrectly. The first one is a fine discussion. The second is harmful.

You shouldn't try to make things worse to prove your point.

[โ€“] empireOfLove@lemmy.one 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

At least be honest about that if you support using downvotes.

lemmy.one has downvotes disabled.

[โ€“] mrmanager 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I have them disabled also on my instance. Beehaw showed the way here and it makes sense to me to not use them. People just want to punish opinions they don't agree with. The button should be called Punish. :)