Downvote
I am still new to Reddit. I joined around the beginning of this year. I found myself joining in search of looking for a platform on the internet that could potentially offer civil adult conversations about topics that most websites tend to veer away from quickly or completely derail before they even get two comments deep. I have found some good conversations here and there but, not as easily as Reddit implies that you should be able to with their voting system.
Netflix recently introduced this exact same voting system as a way to recommend what you should watch next. The system is simple to use. You give a thumbs up to what you like, you click the thumbs down for what you didn't enjoy.
The outcry from this newly implemented system has caused is unreal.
If this is the response that internet users respond to with their recommendations for movies and television shows, then why does Reddit continue to use this system as the driving Modus operandi for their site's human interactions?
The abuse of a system visually planted beside the comment box like the blinker switch in a car now carries that much potential influence on the crowded superhighway of Reddit. Hopefully, the person in control of it knows the who, what, where, when, why, and how to use it and that you aren't unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity when a small mistake causes a much larger issue.
The upside to the way Reddit's voting system is it is primarily used to show appreciation for what has already been voted as a top comment or submission as it has already found its way onto the "front page" of "the front page of the internet".
The downside to the voting system is using it for the purpose of silently arguing your way into a virtual winner's circle. You don't have to say anything, you don't even have to put any real thought into what your argument is either. Just simply scroll by and downvote whatever you don't personally like or agree with on whatever grounds you see fit and viola, your work is done.
Where the voting system shows how easily it can be abused is in subreddits with smaller communities, lower traffic, and ones that haven't found a good balance to when vote weights should be revealed to all users.
Most subreddits have a grace period where comments don't show their voting weight and appropriate placement within the thread as deemed by the voting Redditors. The more popular subreddits are quickly and constantly updated with new submissions and comments and therefore aren't subject to abuse from the voting system as often.
Reddit itself has tried a pre-emptive strike on abusing the voting system by stating in their own guide for reddiquette these following guidelines:
Some subreddits have posted rulings in their sidebar firmly declaring their communities as a "no-downvote" zone and other subreddits have even gone through the trouble of adding CSS code to hide the downvote button away from users altogether.
There are alleged ways around both of these downvote fixes and so I imagine there isn't a real solution to a upvote/downvote system unless you're expressing a willingness to implement an entirely new system. Reddit remains a place where if you want to make any lasting connections through adult conversations, you better have one hell of an opening line.
Netflix recently introduced this exact same voting system as a way to recommend what you should watch next. The system is simple to use. You give a thumbs up to what you like, you click the thumbs down for what you didn't enjoy.
The outcry from this newly implemented system has caused is unreal.
If this is the response that internet users respond to with their recommendations for movies and television shows, then why does Reddit continue to use this system as the driving Modus operandi for their site's human interactions?
The abuse of a system visually planted beside the comment box like the blinker switch in a car now carries that much potential influence on the crowded superhighway of Reddit. Hopefully, the person in control of it knows the who, what, where, when, why, and how to use it and that you aren't unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity when a small mistake causes a much larger issue.
The upside to the way Reddit's voting system is it is primarily used to show appreciation for what has already been voted as a top comment or submission as it has already found its way onto the "front page" of "the front page of the internet".
The downside to the voting system is using it for the purpose of silently arguing your way into a virtual winner's circle. You don't have to say anything, you don't even have to put any real thought into what your argument is either. Just simply scroll by and downvote whatever you don't personally like or agree with on whatever grounds you see fit and viola, your work is done.
Where the voting system shows how easily it can be abused is in subreddits with smaller communities, lower traffic, and ones that haven't found a good balance to when vote weights should be revealed to all users.
Most subreddits have a grace period where comments don't show their voting weight and appropriate placement within the thread as deemed by the voting Redditors. The more popular subreddits are quickly and constantly updated with new submissions and comments and therefore aren't subject to abuse from the voting system as often.
Reddit itself has tried a pre-emptive strike on abusing the voting system by stating in their own guide for reddiquette these following guidelines:
- Do not downvote an otherwise acceptable post because you don't personally like it.
- Do not mass-downvote someone else's posts.
- Do not upvote or downvote based solely on the user who posted it.
Some subreddits have posted rulings in their sidebar firmly declaring their communities as a "no-downvote" zone and other subreddits have even gone through the trouble of adding CSS code to hide the downvote button away from users altogether.
There are alleged ways around both of these downvote fixes and so I imagine there isn't a real solution to a upvote/downvote system unless you're expressing a willingness to implement an entirely new system. Reddit remains a place where if you want to make any lasting connections through adult conversations, you better have one hell of an opening line.
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