I think the problem people have with down votes is that they fear it will turn into Reddit; the hive mind will up vote everything they agree with and down vote everything they disagree with. The problem with unpopular opinions being down voted is that it limits discussion; the unpopular opinion gets hidden, and all you can see are comments you agree with. I believe the atmosphere Snapzu is trying to create is one focused on keeping the conversation going. Users are encouraged to up vote content that they like as well as content that helps stimulate conversation. Any content that is off-topic or is nonconstructive (has no value to the post whatsoever) should, in theory, be down voted.
I do want to point you to the voting FAQ, because where you mention that it is okay to down vote something because of disagreement, that is actually explicitly against the rules. I do think though that the current UI communicates a different mentality, and it's the mentality you are describing as okay. With an up and down arrow, this shows that the system is about agreement and disagreement. The UI needs to change so that people know it is not right to down vote because of disagreement. This may be fixed with a flag icon or "report" button. But, that's a whole other discussion in itself.
it is okay to down vote something because of disagreement, that is actually explicitly against the rules.
Which in itself is pointless because you can never enforce it. A rule without enforcement is at best a voluntary social custom. It only functions as long as you have effectively created a hivemind of sorts in which all agree on the concept. Reddiquette was a fairly pervasive thing for years, but as population grows the commonality of shared behavior shrinks as well as adherence to voluntary social custom.
I completely agree with you. As Snapzu grows, users will inevitably treat the voting system the way it feels natural to them. Enforcement will never change human behavior. The only way we can curb this behavior is if we change the voting UI. I know they have mentioned there will be improvements to the voting system sometime in the future.
I think the problem people have with down votes is that they fear it will turn into Reddit; the hive mind will up vote everything they agree with and down vote everything they disagree with. The problem with unpopular opinions being down voted is that it limits discussion; the unpopular opinion gets hidden, and all you can see are comments you agree with. I believe the atmosphere Snapzu is trying to create is one focused on keeping the conversation going. Users are encouraged to up vote content that they like as well as content that helps stimulate conversation. Any content that is off-topic or is nonconstructive (has no value to the post whatsoever) should, in theory, be down voted.
I do want to point you to the voting FAQ, because where you mention that it is okay to down vote something because of disagreement, that is actually explicitly against the rules. I do think though that the current UI communicates a different mentality, and it's the mentality you are describing as okay. With an up and down arrow, this shows that the system is about agreement and disagreement. The UI needs to change so that people know it is not right to down vote because of disagreement. This may be fixed with a flag icon or "report" button. But, that's a whole other discussion in itself.
Which in itself is pointless because you can never enforce it. A rule without enforcement is at best a voluntary social custom. It only functions as long as you have effectively created a hivemind of sorts in which all agree on the concept. Reddiquette was a fairly pervasive thing for years, but as population grows the commonality of shared behavior shrinks as well as adherence to voluntary social custom.
You have included a space between your closing bracket and your opening bracket that has broken how you wanted to display your link.
Just thought you might want to know, good night.
I completely agree with you. As Snapzu grows, users will inevitably treat the voting system the way it feels natural to them. Enforcement will never change human behavior. The only way we can curb this behavior is if we change the voting UI. I know they have mentioned there will be improvements to the voting system sometime in the future.
The good news is that users get a limited number of downvotes a day. I would think that would help.