this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2023
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Asklemmy
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Kbin does allow downvotes from what I can see and downvotes doesn't really bring it to a toxic environment as it's just a way to easily disagree with someone without having to go into depth in the comments. It's like YouTube videos, if you dislike it doesn't mean it's bad, it just means you personally don't like it.
This is literally not what downvotes were ever meant to be for.
Downvotes on a main post = This post doesn't fit this community.
Downvotes in comments = This post is off-topic, spreading misinformation or hate, and/or is actively hindering discussion (insults, assholery, etc).
I think it has the tendency to create a snowball effect. You see a comment with -50 points you are already subconsciously looking at it trying to analyze why everyone hates it. It essentially primes you into disagreeing with it. Sometimes it's obvious in the case of a troll or someone saying hate speech or something but other times it's someone sharing a genuine opinion that's relevant to the discussion but the snowball effect of the first few people downvoting it causes it to spiral downwards.
By itself it isn't a bad thing but when comments are ranked based on votes or downvoted comments past a certain threshold are hidden, it contributes to creating echo chambers.
Personally, I think it's like that Churchill quote. Democracy is trash and has a lot of problems. But still, it's the best thing we've come up with so far. It's got its issues but the transparent nature definitely helps if someone is consciously trying to read things with an open mind.