Downvotes = “I disagree” or “this is bad and you should feel bad”?
I think I’ve settled on the latter. Disagreement is maybe best communicated by the absence of an upvote? And downvotes work best when they signal something that is just off base, and while not reportable, is not appreciated at a broad cultural level.
I’ve always been partial to “irrelevant to the discussion”.
For example: if a post is detailing increased temperatures compared to a previous year: ✅ Comment saying “This is most likely an effect of global warming” ✅ Comment saying “This paper is potentially biased as the paper/publication is sponsored” ✅ Replies to these comments discussing the legitimacy of their claims (for or against them) ⛔ Comment which is promoting their own content (even if related) with no discussion of the linked post ⛔ Intentionally incendiary comments. “Liberals will say it’s climate change I bet.” ⛔ Completely off topic. “Ok but guys let’s talk about SCARING THE HOES for a second here. Straight flames.”
Too many people use a downvote as “I disagree” when a comment may actually provide a different viewpoint and - as long as it’s respectful and open to counterpoints itself - can be a nice addition to the discussion.
It’s weird how nobody ever goes off on these philosophical treatises about what a downvote is REALLY supposed to be for unless they copped a shit ton of downvotes for their awful takes
To quote the famed philosopher T. Soprano: “Alright, but you gotta get over it.”
I don’t that’s entirely fair or true across the board. I haven’t received a ton of downvotes or anything, but realised that I didn’t know what to do with the downvote and that some were clearly using downvotes where I don’t think I would have.
For my, it was more sympathetic. I was thinking about people who do get downvoted and whether I’m ok with that.
Does the thought of the person, that you plan to downvote, crying themselves to sleep make you happy? Then you should downvote them. I think that’s what they wanted to say.
I think of it like a digital facial expression. Upvoting is akin to smiling or conveying some other positive emotion like affirmation or understanding (even if the subject matter is inherently negative). Downvote is the opposite- someone says something irl that makes you frown or grimmace, or you know they’re telling you a lie, your expression can convey that without a single word. Here, downvote.
There’s no real etiquette - if you feel like you want to give an up or down vote, just do it and don’t put too much thought into it.
Downvote for bad technical advise, I think the person is a bad actor/bad faith argument, or if the person turns hostile to ad hominem attacks. I try not to downvote if I’m putting the effort into debating someone.
I agree with this. If I’m scrolling through a Linux forum and someone is stating something demonstrably incorrect, I don’t want someone to stumble on the post and run into difficulties so I always downvote that particular post and upvote the posts with the right answer.
Now, if I disagree with someone that’s different.
Like if I’m in a thread about your favourite tv show, I don’t downvote someone I disagree with because it’s subjective. I might upvote the people I agree with, but it doesn’t seem fair to downvote someone’s opinion.
But some things are either right or wrong, and your example of bad technical advice is one such thing
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