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  • voicesinmyhead
    +5

    Okay, after reading through all the comments here, the referenced post, and even another topic related to this situation...

    My opinion (and it's just that) is that the tone of the referenced post was not "by definition" offensive, but it certainly felt that it was pushing in that direction. It came across as a passionate response to a (somewhat poorly-worded) criticism of the Snapzu community, akin to berating someone publicly simply because their opinion of something wasn't the same as your own. In that context, I could certainly see why some users felt it was enough to justify a downvote. Several of these downvotes could very well have been hesitantly cast, maybe after debating whether it was offensive enough to warrant it. In my opinion, it was not... but not by much. Another paragraph might have tipped that scale, though.

    It's clear that you're passionate about this particular situation based on this topic and also some of your replies. Building a solid reputation on any social site takes a lot of time and effort, and it can certainly be frustrating to see some of that time and effort getting chipped away because someone can so casually click a button without understanding the consequences. In that regard, I absolutely agree that there should be much more clarity on exactly how that downvote button is used here.

    It's fair to say that many in the recent flood of new users here have come from a site where downvotes are just as commonly-used as upvotes, and everyone can vote how they want for any number of reasons. Maybe there needs to be some kind of "breaking in" period to help these users become accustomed to what a downvote is actually used for on Snapzu, because I can assure you that not everyone is going to read the site FAQ or the site rules.

    Personally, I think ThermalShock's suggestion pretty much nailed it - no downvotes for the first few levels, and a daily downvote limit based on your level, your reputation, or some combination of both.