Note: I went through Bob’s comments and think it likely they were brigaded to some extent. I didn’t think they were in general excellent, but they certainly were not negative-karma comments. I strong-upvoted the ones that were below zero, which was about three or four.
I think it is valid to use the strong upvote as a means of countering brigades, at least where a moderator has confirmed there is reason to believe brigading is active on a topic. My position is limited to comments below zero, because the harmful effects of brigades suppressing good-faith comments from visibility and affirmatively penalizing good-faith users are particularly acute. Although there are mod-level solutions, Ben’s comments suggest they may have some downsides and require time, so I feel a community corrective that doesn’t require moderators to pull away from more important tasks has value.
I also think it is important for me to be transparent about what I did and accept the community’s judgment. If the community feels that is an improper reason to strong upvote, I will revert my votes.
Note: I went through Bob’s comments and think it likely they were brigaded to some extent. I didn’t think they were in general excellent, but they certainly were not negative-karma comments. I strong-upvoted the ones that were below zero, which was about three or four.
I think it is valid to use the strong upvote as a means of countering brigades, at least where a moderator has confirmed there is reason to believe brigading is active on a topic. My position is limited to comments below zero, because the harmful effects of brigades suppressing good-faith comments from visibility and affirmatively penalizing good-faith users are particularly acute. Although there are mod-level solutions, Ben’s comments suggest they may have some downsides and require time, so I feel a community corrective that doesn’t require moderators to pull away from more important tasks has value.
I also think it is important for me to be transparent about what I did and accept the community’s judgment. If the community feels that is an improper reason to strong upvote, I will revert my votes.
Edit: is to are