Unfortunately, the downvote-with-reason system can also be abused. A few users who dislike a comment can mark it as spam, for example. But I agree that it's better than nothing.
Granted. Nothing is fool-proof. Someone determined to do harm will find a way around any obstacles. But it should help discourage the casual troll and serve as a reminder that the downvote really is not a button for "I disagree."
Alternatively, one of the options could say "I disagree" and when selected has no impact on karma.
Lol. We should give the option of an automated "I disagree" response. They can also have the opportunity to send an automated "I disagree" PM, and even automatically change their profile title message to "I disagree". Maybe that would satisfy them.
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?
Granted. Nothing is fool-proof. Someone determined to do harm will find a way around any obstacles. But it should help discourage the casual troll and serve as a reminder that the downvote really is not a button for "I disagree."
Alternatively, one of the options could say "I disagree" and when selected has no impact on karma.
But then just by being a choice we are almost accepting that "I disagree" is a valid option. If only this was less complicated!
Or we put it there to acknowledge that people are going to do it anyway, so let's be honest about it.
Yep, at this point might as well accept it as the reality of things and find a way to mitigate as much as possible.
Lol. We should give the option of an automated "I disagree" response. They can also have the opportunity to send an automated "I disagree" PM, and even automatically change their profile title message to "I disagree". Maybe that would satisfy them.
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?