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 I’m on lemmy and not Reddit I’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?
For any weird, bigoted stuff, lots of downvotes and no replies is hopefully the message an OP needs to receive to get the hint that they should by plying their recruitment attempts elsewhere. Engaging them is probably the worst thing to do.
I’ve had to remember that there’s automatic hiding though, and do that manually.
Definitely agree with that, I very much so still downvote bigoted comments and posts though I think I’ve only encountered two comments like that so far. Lemmy mods and admins are doing a great job.
I was Reading a post earlier tonight where someone shared an anti Covid view point and dropped the whole big Pharma/government groupthink garbage.
Every comment was telling them they would not be accepted here with those views.
I checked a few hours later and the conspiracists comment was gone, but it did have the largest number of downvotes I’ve come across yet at 150ish.
An echo chamber we need not be, but conspiracy garbage we need not at all.
I just miss when conspiracies were fun and not essentially a threat to one’s livelihood.
From everything I’ve seen, conspiracy theories were rarely harmless. They almost always were rooted in antisemitism.
Why do you think I joined the instance I did?
Downvoting is useful for pushing irrelevant/spam comments down but it is definitely overused.
Yup, I saw vote manipulation way too much on Reddit. 3-5 down votes on a dissenting opinion right after it’s posted usually tanks even the most well reasoned comment. Accounts like Unidan fly under the radar for so long.
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.
At least be honest about that if you support using downvotes.
lemmy.one has downvotes disabled.
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. :)
If youre really into that, you should have signed up at Beehaw. They have downvotes disabled.
Personally, Imma keep doing it. Not because Im petty. But if I really disagree with something, I feel like it helps me avoid replying with something stupid or hurtful.
I actually did lol, that was supposed to be my main but since they defederated from lemmy.world I’ve been using this account more. I may switch back once they refederate but for now this is my main.
Downvotes really shouldn’t be for comments or submissions that you disagree with, but for anything that does not add to the conversation. Reddit started off with this guideline too, but at some point votes turned into agree/disagree.
People always said the same thing on Reddit too, but there’s a lot of stuff that “adds to a conversation” that needs to be downvoted. Just because something “adds to a conversation” doesn’t mean that the people shouldn’t express that it’s an awful comment or viewpoint by downvoting.
For instance, on a history article about Nazis someone could say “well some were bad, but not all were. Plus the good they did around the world was actually a lot better than people give them credit for like introducing a universal basic income or providing their citizens with jobs and healthcare for all.”
Like… it’s a viewpoint… but by not downvoting that viewpoint you’re basically allowing someone to say Nazis aren’t bad. Which to me is why the downvote button is there in the first place. Good, well thought out comments that add to a conversation should be upvoted, but awful comments should be downvoted too. People just need to be more well intentioned about when they’re downvoting a viewpoint they disagree with.
I agree. I’d say that expressing a viewpoint that derails the conversation and people already know is wrong definitely does not add to the conversation, and should be downvoted.
If that example had a little more substance and better context it would be valid. It’s important to recognize that most Nazis weren’t cartoonishly evil. Some may have even been mostly good people who supported the worst possible politics.
Acknowledging that makes it easier to spot similarities today.
I personally found the 5th reply to the same comment thread a little repetitive. Unless there is anything more to add to the conversation a simple upvote/downvote on an already existing thread is probably enough. I don’t think I ever downvoted a post though, just because I sorted by top/hot.
No downvotes. I use BAMO.
Block and move on.
I’m here for memes and boobs, ain’t nobody got time for dickheads.
Well said!
I don’t understand this mentality to begin with? Downvoting without context is like cursing at a random person in public and then drive away.
That’s not really a great comparison. Downvoting is a way to say you disagree with someone without getting into an argument. And if I think of my personal experience, most of the posts/comments I would downvote on Reddit are about things that there is no point getting into an argument about.
Downvoting is a way to say you disagree with someone without getting into an argument.
Is that what it’s supposed to mean though? I understood it to mean that the comment either didn’t contribute to the discussion or it was actually detrimental to it.
I regularly used to upvote people that I replied to even if disagreed with them.
Obviously, if they’re being dicks then that’s a downvote.
Yes, that’s what it’s supposed to be for, but with the influx of Redditors that have their own definition of what it’s for, it’s being totally misused.
Fully agree, but so far my experience is that most people here still have that anti-discussion habit.
It’s not a really a mentality per se, it’s just a lot less mental effort to downvote and move on. Especially when you consider all the downvote bots and the fact that downvotes were not public. Downvoting in general was really devalued and people used it to just remove content from their face as opposed to engaging with it. Lemmy feels different in that regard.
Downvotes are needed for some content but on the other hand they’re public and can cause targeting
Nope. Downvotes are there to be used, so I use them.
i don’t downvote if i disagree but if someone is insulting or something else
do bees be?
I intentionally joined an instance that doesn’t allow it. I do it kind of compulsively on other sites but really don’t feel good about it. Plus I always found it hurtful when people did it to me just because I didn’t know something or had a polite disagreement. Downvoting reminds me of the 6 Million Merits episode of Black Mirror (if that’s what it’s called). Now when I try to downvote Lemmy says nope can’t do that and I feel happy and relieved!
I think lemmy is too small at the moment to downvote in the same way people did on reddit. It’s still growing and we need people to post content to build the site and everyone’s engagement, downvotes for just disagreeing are going to discourage a whole new group of people who didn’t post on reddit because of getting drowned out in the noise. Look in all the question posts about how people are enjoying lemmy and you’ll see a bunch of them.
I’ve just been moving on and ignoring things I disagree with, no upvote is enough punishment in my eyes. Saying that I’ve been giving out upvotes to most things to encourage people to post and comment more. If something is clearly gross and offensive it’ll get a downvote and possibly a report, but that’s so rare in the communities I’m going to. If it’s a really off topic comment or whatever then yes it’s downvoted because it doesn’t belong.
If there’s something I really, really disagree with but don’t want to get into a conversation about it I’ll just block the user. That way I don’t have to see or deal with their opinions I disagree with anymore and can just move on with my life.
I guess that’s a really, really long winded way of agreeing with you lol. I’ve been a lot more liberal with the upvotes and have really changed my downvote behaviour too.
This is not a really good reply to to your nuanced comment lol, but I love your pfp 🥰
Ha ha! Thank you very much for noticing!
I don’t really vote as a way to agree or disagree.
I only downvote if something is inappropriate, else I leave it be. And then I apply my own rule that is to upvote anything(!) that I comment on (yea this post too), no matter what I feel about it.
If something is worth spending time commenting on, it deserves an upvote.
I am trying, because I like the fresh new air of Lemmy and I want to bring more positivity in people everydays life, for a change.
I posted a neutral and genuine question a few days ago and got doomvoted hard, because it contained a buzzword.
Haters gonna be haters, but this thing hurts more that I’d like to admit it. There, I said it.i think ive only downvoted 1 offtopic lame comment so far, on lemmy
its not something i do often
in general the process of downvoting should be reserved to offtopic content, poor quality content etc
on reddit the “norm” was to downvote things you disagree with, which is dumb. then you end up with the echochamber problem and such. I once asked a critical question on /r/conservative and i got banned. Asking questions where the answer make them seem … dumb, was apparently not acceptable. i got downvoted to hell, and eventually banned. for ONE comment :P
