I have an idea about upvotes and downvotes.

This Is Your Dad·Jan 6, 2019·1 votes·4,185 views

What if we all started at 1 upvote, as we always do, but votes cannot go below 1? So instead of having -65 votes, if 3 people liked it and 65 didn't it would cancel all the way back to one without allowing us to see precisely how many of each we got? Then we wouldn't have people participating in downvote wars and all opinions would be read without too much of a bias from the herd.

So a really bad proposal or discussion will remain neutral, but a really good discussion will get properly rewarded with upvotes to increase visibility. This system ensures that what is visible the most is possibly the most interesting, while not creating an environment of hostility for those whose ideas are not well-received.

2 Comments

Imperial PandaaJan 6, 20191 votes

A few things:

Some people, like most mods, try to start at a 0 to get a more accurate judgement on how people are reacting.
Building on 1, unless you keep the click/hover to see upvote/downvote bit, 1 becomes hard to gauge.
A positive/negative vote shouldn't influence an opinion someone is going to read. People may agree with parts, or disagree with parts. Votes aren't going to change that.
Don't refer to people as a herd. It is sort of rude and insulting to those who do use the voting responsibly.

This Is Your DadJan 6, 20191 votes

[{quoted}](name=Imperial Pandaa,realm=NA,application-id=6heBIhQc,discussion-id=d4ILEyEu,comment-id=0000,timestamp=2019-01-06T05:11:47.830+0000)

A few things:

Some people, like most mods, try to start at a 0 to get a more accurate judgement on how people are reacting.

Building on 1, unless you keep the click/hover to see upvote/downvote bit, 1 becomes hard to gauge.

A positive/negative vote shouldn't influence an opinion someone is going to read. People may agree with parts, or disagree with parts. Votes aren't going to change that.

Don't refer to people as a herd. It is sort of rude and insulting to those who do use the voring responsibly.

To your number 3, it doesn't influence people outright, but we tend to gravitate towards whatever most people are saying. I see sometimes a post almost identical to another get the opposite attention just because the first 5 people to look at it voted negatively. To number 4, I use herd because it carries momentum. If something is going a certain direction it becomes harder and harder to back up. I do not use the term herd for certain people, ideas or circumstances. Some people or posts I actually like can still be herded posts, though I get that most people use it as an insult.

Also to further what I mean by the use of the word herd, I see some people will provide arguments and evidence, and even if I don't agree with it, it doesn't qualify as a herd mentality, and is not meant to be used as such. By herd I really mean when someone posts a reply that says "yea you suck" or "this idea is stupid" without any actual thought to it.