Good point. The problem with upvotes and downvotes is that you don’t get to instantly know the rationale behind the vote.
Downvoting might express that people are contrary to what the article sais, but their vote has the counter-productive effect of shadowing the article itself, meanwhile upvoting it might give a skimmer the impression that people agree with the author of the post.
The thing I try to do is – and this isn’t a criticism of OP, it’s just what I do – when it’s something that has a heading that asserts something I think is wrong, I try to make clear with my title that it’s reported speech. So “Federalist writer thinks that the pandemic showed we don’t need net neutrality”, maybe. I think the original title is not a true statement, but now anyone would agree it is: there certainly is a guy at the Federalist who thinks that thing. That makes it easier for people to upvote without feeling like they’re clicking a “Yup” button.
Good point. The problem with upvotes and downvotes is that you don’t get to instantly know the rationale behind the vote.
Downvoting might express that people are contrary to what the article sais, but their vote has the counter-productive effect of shadowing the article itself, meanwhile upvoting it might give a skimmer the impression that people agree with the author of the post.
Has a solution ever been proposed?
The thing I try to do is – and this isn’t a criticism of OP, it’s just what I do – when it’s something that has a heading that asserts something I think is wrong, I try to make clear with my title that it’s reported speech. So “Federalist writer thinks that the pandemic showed we don’t need net neutrality”, maybe. I think the original title is not a true statement, but now anyone would agree it is: there certainly is a guy at the Federalist who thinks that thing. That makes it easier for people to upvote without feeling like they’re clicking a “Yup” button.
Cool little tip, it really helps even when skimming. In case I ever post something, I will follow your rule of thumb.
I upvoted this comment for both reasons