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  • Boop
    +6

    I believe the up vote symbol should never change. It has been ingrained in most web users minds that up vote means agreement, positivity, appropriateness. It's like if Microsoft decided that the action for closing windows was "-" instead of "x". That is just taking away from decades of user experience.

    However, if our down voting is different in that it is intended to remove or discourage inappropriate content, then I think it would be okay for a symbol change specifically for the down vote button. Maybe a flag icon, as this is associated with bringing attention to, informing others of something, or saying watch out.

    Icon changes are tough and make a gigantic impact. I'm don't think I'm on board for changing either one.

    • spaceghoti
      +10

      I believe the up vote symbol should never change. It has been ingrained in most web users minds that up vote means agreement, positivity, appropriateness. It's like if Microsoft decided that the action for closing windows was "-" instead of "x". That is just taking away from decades of user experience.

      That's my point. The fact that these symbols are so ingrained in so many people's minds is precisely why I suggest it. We're not Microsoft, just as we're not Reddit or voat or any other site with a voting system. Reputation is not karma or any of the other words used to describe the overall effects of voting. Changing both symbols (or even just one) would help to break that association and allow us to retrain new users who come here.

      I'm not married to the idea, I simply throw it out there as a suggestion for how to break the habit of using upvotes or downvotes as proxy for whether or not you agree.

      • Boop
        +6

        To your last point: no worries, it's discussion and we're all brainstorming! I'm just trying to give counterarguments to help think through all aspects of an idea. I don't know the answers.

        Back to topic: I think it's possible that a change to the down vote button could work, since our ideology behind the action is different. But for an up vote, a symbol change will end up confusing users (old and new), and leave a bad impression on the usability of the site, in my opinion.