this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2023
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I don't think downvotes should be a thing at all tbh. Just silences discussion.
If a comment is actively hateful and/or breaks rules you'd report it instead, as is the case in alot of Lemmy instances.
right? if you say something the lef... i mean lemmy users don't like, you just get SHOUTED down instead. cause if you screetch loud enough it makes it true.
It’s useful for gauging the general opinion on a subject, or for “exposing” fake affirmations without having to dig comments.
It does bring its issues, but I think the pros outweigh the cons. Plus it’s not like Reddit where you just have the balance, people indeed have the tendency to ignore/comment snarkily on “-5” comments, but if they see a “+10/-15” they often realize it’s a controversial opinion and might weigh in.
How is anyone on Lemmy silenced by downvotes? Just basic feelings of shame because some people on the internet didn't like what they said?
People have a tendency to pile on and dismiss any opinion or comment with -1 votes or less instead of properly responding to it, like what's happening just above this comment. Turns the place into an echo chamber.
How does it turn the place into an echo chamber? Why would anyone let that silence them? There are zero repercussions for a downvote on Lemmy.
Is your ego really so fragile that "people don't like my comment" is enough to make you stop talking?
Lmao did you even read my comment? Who said anything about not commenting if you're getting negative votes?
That comment did not justify your original comment, which was:
Someone not responding to your post does not silence discussion. Neither do downvotes. No one, not even you, is entitled to a response. Who sees a downvote and decides that they were going to respond but now won't? That's ludicrous.
So as far as- "Who said anything about not commenting if you’re getting negative votes?," that would be you, who claimed downvotes silenced discussion.
Again, did you even read my comment? Pointing out a tendency people have isn't "entitlement". People shy away from small numbers and interact with large numbers more.
We literally see this in threads all the time. Negatively voted comments are responded to with one-liners or nothing at all, as if the negative votes somehow prove them wrong.
Lmao I'll be "discussing" this topic with my wall now
You again did not explain how anyone is silenced by downvotes. And we do not "literally see this" because you have no idea if those people who downvoted were ever going to respond.
My comment:
.
That's not what I said:
People dismiss it either because it has low visibility since it's downvoted so people wouldn't see it, or because of our tendency for big numbers.
Taking out downvotes would allow for less popular opinions (that do not break rules by being hateful or spam; you'd report it in those cases) to have higher visibility and discussion since the majority can't just downvote it, just because they slightly disagree with it or are biased against it, and silence discussion.
People who do agree would also be able to show it through upvotes, and it wouldn't be eaten by the downvotes.
Thanks for your comments actually. Got me to think about the benefits more clearly. Discussions are great.
That is absolutely not how Lemmy works. Downvoting has no effect whatsoever. This is not Reddit.
I assume you're talking about the 'active' and 'hot' sorting?
From the Lemmy docs:
You'd also notice this if you use Lemmy for any length of time lmao
You know what's weird? What's weird is that, despite your claim that people aren't having discussions with people who get downvoted, my reply to you was part of a huge amount of discussion with someone who was downvoted. And that is true of multiple other discussions in this post.
Is this post special? Is it the exception?
I am the exception because I keep the less visibility thing in mind
That does not explain why this post contradicts your claim multiple times, but your massive ego is noted.
Look, with nearly 100 comments a day, we realize that no amount of downvotes is going to silence you from commenting in every post. However, for us mere mortals, can you not see how a dogpile of downvotes from the local majority opinion might dissuade some individuals from wanting to engage in discussion?
Nope. I don't see why it matters when it didn't even matter on Reddit except that comments with enough downvotes were hidden. They aren't hidden here.
It's clearly psychological. It's not that it quantitatively "matters." I suspect very few people are going around using the downvote button with the intent of statistically decreasing the view count of a particular comment. On these politically charged posts, it's used as a litmus test for whether or not you are part of the 'right side' or 'the other side.'