A compromise solution for opinion downvoting vs quality downvoting

mi ramfan·8/7/2014, 3:20:38 PM·9 votes·1,096 views

Make downvotes not affect the visibility of the post, and only change its visible vote count. Upvotes and post count are already plenty of information to use to sort threads and posts. Also, unlike with the downvote button, everyone agrees on what the upvote button means.

For pornographic posts/advertisements/trolls, there's a Report Post button. For low quality posts, just don't upvote. Downvotes only serve their function if everybody is using them properly, and that has never happened.

Having posts that you disagree with on the front page is the price you pay for free speech.

28 Comments

Serpents Embrace8/7/2014, 3:29:54 PM2 votes

So what's your definition of the purpose of down voting?

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Sir ArmaMalum8/7/2014, 3:57:59 PM1 votes

Hmm, there is the issue of low-effort, low-quality posts that aren't worth reading but not exactly reportable either. Vent threads, QQ-threads and whine threads for example. Yes, upvotes will let better posts rise above, but that still means that new incoming threads will be put at a relatively even ground with the 'trash' posts without the ability to knock them down a peg or two.

Just playing devil's advocate here, do you think that's an acceptable con?

Daen8/7/2014, 4:07:38 PM1 votes

Generally speaking, I'm trying to understand the perspective of the community needing to learn how to use downvotes "properly". There will always be variance in how people use the system, which to me is an OK thing. Personally, I use my downvotes both for posts I feel aren't relevant and for posts I feel are the wrong direction. I don't necessarily downvote if I disagree, but if someone's comment is just outright factually incorrect I may downvote it.

Make downvotes not affect the visibility of the post, and only change its visible vote count. Upvotes and post count are already plenty of information to use to sort threads and posts.

This would create a lot of inaccuracy. If a thread received 5 upvotes and 200 downvotes, it would just be calculated as having 5 upvotes despite having a visible vote count of -195.

CupcakeTrap8/7/2014, 10:59:42 PM1 votes

I see no reason why upvotes and downvotes need to have equal weight.

I also think that Riot could make it work differently when a post is just getting started. To address the "good posts insta-killed by a single jerk stalking the New section" problem, Riot could set it up so that (e.g.) downvotes are not counted during the first hour of a post's life, or for the first 10 votes.

Flintfall8/8/2014, 12:43:27 AM1 votes

Whazama? Report button?

oh...