Did you hear about the thought experiment of the monkeys in a cage with a banana?
You put four monkeys in a cage and when the first one goes for the banana, you spray all of them with a garden hose. You continue every time it happens and eventually, they'll stop each other before one gets the banana.
Then you replace a monkey with a new one. It'll try to go for the banana but the others will stop it. You continue replacing monkeys until none of the orginal ones are left and they'll still stop each other from getting the banana even if no one knows why.
That worked for early reddit (and by early, I mean when I created my account 9 years ago). Admins would stress that the downvote is not a disagree button. Then users would tell each other. The new one would tell newer ones.
At one point, the admins made a mobile version that said "I agree / I disagree" in its voting area. The community was outraged, the downvote is not a disagree button they said.
Then monkeys got in so fast that they didn't know about the downvotes.
And nowadays, if you say that the downvote is not a disagree button, you get downvoted.
So idea would be to ensure it's clearly featured to every new user so they can perpetuate the culture. Maybe an explanation popup for the first time it's pressed?
Did you hear about the thought experiment of the monkeys in a cage with a banana?
You put four monkeys in a cage and when the first one goes for the banana, you spray all of them with a garden hose. You continue every time it happens and eventually, they'll stop each other before one gets the banana.
Then you replace a monkey with a new one. It'll try to go for the banana but the others will stop it. You continue replacing monkeys until none of the orginal ones are left and they'll still stop each other from getting the banana even if no one knows why.
That worked for early reddit (and by early, I mean when I created my account 9 years ago). Admins would stress that the downvote is not a disagree button. Then users would tell each other. The new one would tell newer ones.
At one point, the admins made a mobile version that said "I agree / I disagree" in its voting area. The community was outraged, the downvote is not a disagree button they said.
Then monkeys got in so fast that they didn't know about the downvotes.
And nowadays, if you say that the downvote is not a disagree button, you get downvoted.
So idea would be to ensure it's clearly featured to every new user so they can perpetuate the culture. Maybe an explanation popup for the first time it's pressed?