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  • massani
    +4

    Actually, the more I think about this, the more I like it. At times, I can see something like this be a bit more "punishing" to those who downvote. However, on the flip side, showing people who downvoted, is a good way to deter spamming as well.

    It almost reminds me of what stackexchange sites do when users mark a question as duplicate. You know who marked it and for what reason. I like that.

    • pixelboot
      +7

      I think that showing who down voted what could also have the potential to start bullying and flame wars. I like that it's kept anonymous, but I think providing a reason on comments as well as snaps could help deter spamming at least. There will always be jerks on the internet, there really isn't a way to stop them every where or every single time.

      • CoalAndCobalt (edited 8 years ago)
        +3

        Downvotes aren't meant to be a "disagree" button, so I can't imagine flame wars would erupt unless they're misused.

        And "stopping jerks" is not necessarily about managing mean behavior. When you have a vote-based content system reddit, snapzu, or voat, downvoting means that dissent often gets sidelined, even if it is honest and well-reasoned dissent. Back-and-forth often gets misinterpreted as argument, too, and suffers that same treatment. You can't have a conversation in that environment. It leads to the phenomenon of threads dominated by meta-discussions about how the hivemind or circlejerk is ruining the website -- often instead of discussing the topic at hand.

        • jrmy
          +2

          On the plus side if someone does go into a flame war of downvotes it will be completely clear who is doing it and the appropriate action can be taken such as banning the user or disabling the ability to downvote.

    • utesred
      +4

      I would worry about personal vendettas flaming up. Beyond knowing that someone downvoted you, I'm not sure what the additional information of who downvoted you does for you? Do you message them and ask why if they forgot to leave a reason? Beyond that, I can't think of any other things anyone would actually do with that. Well....any good things that people would do with that! :P

      • hingeattack
        +3

        Yeah, it is a difficult system to control well. I think you're probably right, I hadn't really thought about that. There's trade offs to either one. I guess we should just stick with the spirit of what we have, and follow guidelines on it.