Thank you for providing an excellent example of how one should down vote, if that is what you’re doing. Not meaning to put words in your mouth, just applauding a reasoned challenge.
To be clear, though, I also don’t think people should feel like they need to write out comments explaining their strong downvotes. I think the time cost is too high for it to be a default expectation, particularly since it can lead to getting involved in a fraught back-and-forth and take additional time and energy that way. I don’t use strong downvotes all that often, but, when I do use them, it’s rare that I’ll also write up an explanatory comment.
(Insofar as I disagree with forum voting norms, my main disagreement is that I’d like to see people have somewhat higher bars for strong downvoting comments that aren’t obviously substanceless or norm-violating. I think there’s an asymmetry between upvotes and downvotes, since downvotes often feel aggressive or censorious to the downvoted person and the people who agree with them. For that reason, I think that having a higher bar for downvotes than for upvotes helps to keep discussions from turning sour and helps avoid alienating people more than necessary.)
To be clear, though, I also don’t think people should feel like they need to write out comments explaining their strong downvotes.
Ok, no problem, thanks for sharing that. For me, without explanations the entire voting system up and down generates entirely worthless information. With explanations then there is an opportunity to evaluate the quality of the votes.
To be fair, I’ve been using forums regularly since they first appeared on the net, and this is probably the most intelligent forum I’ve ever discovered, which I am indeed quite grateful for. Perhaps the reason I’ve complained about the voting system is that, in my mind, it contaminates what is otherwise a pretty close to perfect site. The contrast between near perfection, and high school level popularity contest gimmickry offends my delicate aesthetic sensibility. :-)
Thank you for providing an excellent example of how one should down vote, if that is what you’re doing. Not meaning to put words in your mouth, just applauding a reasoned challenge.
Thanks!
To be clear, though, I also don’t think people should feel like they need to write out comments explaining their strong downvotes. I think the time cost is too high for it to be a default expectation, particularly since it can lead to getting involved in a fraught back-and-forth and take additional time and energy that way. I don’t use strong downvotes all that often, but, when I do use them, it’s rare that I’ll also write up an explanatory comment.
(Insofar as I disagree with forum voting norms, my main disagreement is that I’d like to see people have somewhat higher bars for strong downvoting comments that aren’t obviously substanceless or norm-violating. I think there’s an asymmetry between upvotes and downvotes, since downvotes often feel aggressive or censorious to the downvoted person and the people who agree with them. For that reason, I think that having a higher bar for downvotes than for upvotes helps to keep discussions from turning sour and helps avoid alienating people more than necessary.)
Ok, no problem, thanks for sharing that. For me, without explanations the entire voting system up and down generates entirely worthless information. With explanations then there is an opportunity to evaluate the quality of the votes.
To be fair, I’ve been using forums regularly since they first appeared on the net, and this is probably the most intelligent forum I’ve ever discovered, which I am indeed quite grateful for. Perhaps the reason I’ve complained about the voting system is that, in my mind, it contaminates what is otherwise a pretty close to perfect site. The contrast between near perfection, and high school level popularity contest gimmickry offends my delicate aesthetic sensibility. :-)