The majority of people are going to use downvote to disagree, etiquette be damned.
I say we just get rid of the downvote button entirely.
Think about it, almost all legitimate uses of a downvote button can be handled via Report. If a comment is spam, inappropriate, threats, etc, you Report it. If you just disagree with someone... well, you can move on, or upvote someone you do agree with.
True, if the only options are Upvote or Report, mods might get pestered by frivolous reports. But repeat "report button abusers" could be dealt with -- that's pretty much how it works around the web.
And that way, popular opinions will rise to the top. Unpopular opinions wouldn't rise, but at least they won't be buried, either.
Edit: The default "Report" option could be, "I strongly disagree with this comment." Such reports would be filed in the appropriate place, a paper shredder.
I agree the downvote button does more harm than good.
Yup. It's just too easy to downvote people for the wrong reasons.
Plus, the upvote and downvote buttons are right next to each other, but have vastly different purposes.
Everyone's okay with using Upvote to say, "Yeah, I agree!" It's even encouraged: Low effort "This" type commenters are usually instructed to just use Upvote that way. But the Downvote button, despite being right next to it, has a totally different purpose. Downvote isn't disagree, Downvote is like this neighborhood watch program, where we're supposed to point out shady behavior.
The majority of people are going to use downvote to disagree, etiquette be damned.
I say we just get rid of the downvote button entirely.
Think about it, almost all legitimate uses of a downvote button can be handled via Report. If a comment is spam, inappropriate, threats, etc, you Report it. If you just disagree with someone... well, you can move on, or upvote someone you do agree with.
True, if the only options are Upvote or Report, mods might get pestered by frivolous reports. But repeat "report button abusers" could be dealt with -- that's pretty much how it works around the web.
And that way, popular opinions will rise to the top. Unpopular opinions wouldn't rise, but at least they won't be buried, either.
Edit: The default "Report" option could be, "I strongly disagree with this comment." Such reports would be filed in the appropriate place, a paper shredder.
Do you know how much effort people put on building their own special little bubble to avoid other people's opinions? /jk
I agree the downvote button does more harm than good.
Yup. It's just too easy to downvote people for the wrong reasons.
Plus, the upvote and downvote buttons are right next to each other, but have vastly different purposes.
Everyone's okay with using Upvote to say, "Yeah, I agree!" It's even encouraged: Low effort "This" type commenters are usually instructed to just use Upvote that way. But the Downvote button, despite being right next to it, has a totally different purpose. Downvote isn't disagree, Downvote is like this neighborhood watch program, where we're supposed to point out shady behavior.
It's just not very intuitive.