I would agree if that is how downvotes were actually used but that is not the case. More often than not when people downvote it’s because they don’t like what is being said not because it’s factually incorrect, offtopic or otherwise unhelpful. Factual information and perfectly reasonable (but unpopular) takes get downvoted here on a daily basis.
Well yes, social behaviour is bounded by rules that are maintained through reinforcement. So more threads like this one, please! We educate each other here. Media literacy is a skill.
I don’t agree. A downvote is a signal to others that “this topic/thread does not contribute to the overall discussion.”
And on a platform like Lemmy, with limited engagement (compared other social platforms) these signals are critical.
We need a way to signal to others:
I would agree if that is how downvotes were actually used but that is not the case. More often than not when people downvote it’s because they don’t like what is being said not because it’s factually incorrect, offtopic or otherwise unhelpful. Factual information and perfectly reasonable (but unpopular) takes get downvoted here on a daily basis.
"Be the change you want to see in the world… " ;)
Well yes, social behaviour is bounded by rules that are maintained through reinforcement. So more threads like this one, please! We educate each other here. Media literacy is a skill.