Downvotes suck. I get it, they are made up internet points coming from strangers (or bots) that you know nothing about, and you shouldn’t let that get you down. Still, putting in a few minutes of effort to share your opinion and engage with the community just to see a downvote is disheartening.
Based on the patterns of downvotes I see on a post, it seems like there is usually one or two people downvoting everything they wouldn’t personally say themselves. Extrapolating from this, I presume there is a population of users that contribute more downvotes than anything.
Personally, I don’t think the platform should allow any user to spend more time tearing things down than building other things up. Only allowing downvotes after so many upvotes would help stop trolls and could help generate more engagement via upvotes.
Edit:
The upvote/downvote count would be a global count including posts and comments, not a post specific count. This solution does not prevent downvoting, it merely adds friction to those who predominantly leave negative feedback by ensuring their positive feedback elsewhere. Sure, some would go on to upvote unsavory things, but others would attempt to further engage with their interests, and some would simply lurk.
If any good faith user approached the limitation, they would likely be better served by curating their feed.
I have seen some mods ban swathes of users with excessively negative voting records, encouraging them to curate their feed instead. I think the ratios were closer to 95% downvotes than the 2:1 you suggest, but the example stands. :)
In my initial consideration of this problem I was thinking just ban the users, but that doesn’t feel like the best solution to me. I think that not allowing users to pass that 2:1 ratio in the first place is a better solution for everyone. Also, as I’m sure you understand, the exact ratio is less important than the idea of limiting downvote predominant users.
Removed by mod
what do you mean with this comment
Pretty sure I was making a wording related home but I forgot what I wrote
Oh well
Edit oh I remember, it was relating how mods demand “positive” behavior, to the misogynistic phrase “smile more” normally directed at a woman, from a power wielding man trying to elicit a response
It’s funny that I got deleted while literally calling out bad behavior but hey, their house, their rules
Edit edit a user has the up and downvote buttons. If a board doesn’t like that, they should change visibility. I believe beehaw does
removal reason:
Rule 2: Specifically, the comment is somewhat sexist/misogynistic with no indication it’s tongue-in-cheek.
See my edit. I wasn’t proclaiming that statement myself I was calling out behavior that was like it
Edit using that statement was an illustrative point, not a personally held position.
Ensuring users can’t only leave negative feedback has nothing to do with sexual harassment. I can see the contrived connection you made after reading the explanation but it was not nearly strong enough to leave that comment without context. Even with context it’s merely an inappropriate connection.
It’s creepy as fuck for mods to chase people around demanding a mood. Vote how you see fit
That’s why I made a connection to otherwise creepy behavior
Edit also meh, I had it in quotes, which in casual usage makes clear I’m referencing someone else. We don’t quote any normal sentences
You think humans are counting the numbers on paper? You write code for that. And what I’m saying is that there is no value in votes from those that see fit to predominantly downvote. This isn’t a matter of freedom, the platform isn’t aspiring to be a government.
yeah that’s lowkey creepy and you didn’t express what you “meant” well at all. i see why they removed it.
edit: sorry mods for feeding this user. this was shitty of me.
My bad for them not using the critical thinking to get the context. Context takes time in text and they have lots of stuff to do.
Edit it should be clear that a mod saying “upvote more (downvote less)” is the connection to “smile more”
Should a person not be free to go to a conservative board, not break rules, and simply vote as you see fit? Lots of trash on those boards