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Relaxed section for discussion and debate that doesn't fit anywhere else. Whether it's advice, how your week is going, a link that's at the back of your mind, or something like that, it can likely go here.

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I'm really enjoying no down votes on Beehaw (beehaw.org)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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When I first found out it was an interesting concept that I was pretty neutral on but the more I engage/lurk with the community the more I enjoy it.

I generally don't post/comment much on Reddit because I tend to be extremely sincere and that's not always well received. Usually I don't get much hate, but what I do get is a lot of non-interaction mixed with downvotes. And it's just really discouraging when I'm just trying to share my thoughts.

But having no downvotes here is so nice because I'm not afraid that I'm going to get silenced into oblivion. Either people will actually engage with me (and maybe disagree, but in a meaningful way), or they'll move on and not randomly share their disdain via downvoting.

It's such a small change but makes a big difference. I bet a lot of people feel the same as me - it's more comfortable to engage here.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If downvotes had been used as originally intended, they would be perfectly fine. But the cultural shift over time on the site from "downvote things not adding to the conversation" to "downvote what I don't agree with" made their existence more toxic to conversations. Weighing down unpopular opinions in the sort feed made it even easier for echo chambers to build up. Having a way to give comments that are productive a bump is enough for effectively sorting things.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I was on kbin for an afternoon and got downvote brigaded for calling someone out for spreading false info. I probably I could've worded my comment all fluffy and nice, but I was frustrated at the op for making things further confusing for everyone and the tone of my comment reflected that. I since deleted my kbin account and hoping that downvote brigade trend and hivemind stays on kbin.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

off-topic but since you mentioned kbin: I'm using both platforms right now (beehive/lemmy and kbin)...from what I'm seeing so far I really prefer lemmy's implementation of pretty much everything. Kbin itself is not any more or less complicated to sign up and start posting, but its organization is definitely more convoluted. Speaking of threads vs. microblogs etc. I read a FAQ posted there and it barely cleared things up for me.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't think it helped that there were incredibly salty people (or even bots) in some of the smaller subs that would just downvote everything.
I frequented a few subs where honest questions or helpful answers would sit on 0 votes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I think nobody has the same feeling for how much a downvote or upvote weighs, too.

One might person might think, hmm, I disageee mildly = downvote, and the downvoted person might see that and think "oh, they hate this, why are they so mad?" and then you get the useless little argument about votes after that sometimes.

Especially with negativity bias making 1 downvote feel worse than 1 upvote, to most people.