What should I use it for?
In case of posts - should I downvote things that I don’t agree with? Or things that I don’t want to see in my feed (posts with low amount of votes fell more to the bottom)? Or things that I consider harmful/stupid/younameit?
In case of comments - should I downvote something that I don’t agree with? When should I use this button in case of comments. Or maybe I should not - cause what’s the point, actually?
Lets be honest here — it always was and will be the “dislike” button.
If you look at any controversial threads even most polite and objective comments get down voted for “not liking something they like”.
It’s a flawed concept that if anything just drive outrage and toxic fighting. Instead a lot of modern platform migrated away from down vote button that especially serves no meaningful purpose in small administered communities such as this.
It wasn’t always like this. It is however like that right now. Sadly.
But you’re right. The “Up” and “Down” part visually strongly suggests that an upvote is the opposite of a downvote. That’s not true if you ask me. Or better phrased: It shouldn’t be like that. Regarding Reddit, you can read the Reddiquette, and it is layed out that up- and down-vote are to be handled differently.
I suggest something like this: Three options for any user with any posts or comment.
The important part is that A and B have something in common. Both of these are stating that the content is appropriate and fitting to the sub. Only C is stating that you think this content doesn’t belong to the sub, is off-topic or otherwise inappropriate.
B and C shouldn’t be thought of as “opposites”, because they are not. Maybe we could also think of a system where also A is an active marking, but I don’t think there is a need for that to be active, too. I think how I laid it out would work in a way that encourages quality contributions and useful on-topic content.
That’s exactly how Lobsters are handling it:
I feel that so far this has been the best approach to content aggregator voting.
This sounds like a good thing as well. I was also thinking about tags instead of a singular downvote button for “everything negative”.
This is why I ask about it. Because I don’t see any good use for this button. If I don’t agree, I write a comment saying why I don’t agree. If I think a comment is some bullshit - I write. If it’s purely trolling or abusive comment - I report it to the mods. Additionally, people who get downvoted develop some extent of anger, which does not help anybody, neither downvoter nor downvoted person.
I’ve seen some platforms not having this button and I totally agree with their reasoning. It does not contribute to anything meaningful.
Some? Neither Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or tik-tok have it.
If I agree with a comment I can upvote it, why can’t I downvote something I don’t agree with. I don’t always feel like commenting and debating with someone.
Do you know any FLOSS news aggregators that don’t use downvote button?
What I know are - Lobsters, but it’s invite-only.
From other types of websites there’s Diaspora. And Mastodon, which I’ve tried recently, however I feel that microblogging is not for me, too much noise.
Sorry, I don’t use any of them, so I have not idea. However yes, I remember on Facebook it was only “like” button, you couldn’t “dislike”. I only use Reddit and Lobsters and since recently, Lemmy. And I’ve seen some subreddits removed downvote button, also Lobsters did it recently.
Isn’t the downvote, if used that way, a sort of a “micro comment”?
No, a downvote is not a comment.
I disagree. If you ask me, it is a comment in form of a data point. Comparable to the “thumbs up” you can do in real life. I think almost all people would say that this is a form of commentary. Or applause, and “booo” on the other hand. They are not literally words, but communication is more than just words. Even on the web. Another examples would be the new kind of emoticons a user can flag a post/comment on Reddit, similar to Discord.
Edit: Or just make a tiny little thought experiment. Lets assume I just downvoted your comment above, for any reason I might have. Is that really no commentary at all?
I think it’s no commentary at all, since there’s no content in your "comment’.
But it is also not nothing, is it? The person using the downvote button has a reason to do so. It’s not purely random. It is a reaction, and it is visible to everyone, including the creator of the comment.
Yeah, but what does it mean? What meaning has this downvote?
What’s the value in that? Do you think it helps the overall discussion? Because the argument here that down-vote does more harm than good for discussion and community’s sanity.
Maybe if you want to feel good a client-only down-vote button would be more suited for this, so you can unload a bit of frustration and not affect the network negatively.