I think of downvotes and upvotes as head nods, and head shakes.
Head nods and head shakes are not constructive criticism.
Removing the ability to give low effort or low quality criticism would encourage us to put effort into real criticism, no?
I think of downvotes and upvotes as head nods, and head shakes.
Head nods and head shakes are not constructive criticism.
Removing the ability to give low effort or low quality criticism would encourage us to put effort into real criticism, no?
I mean it is vague what a downvote even means. Does it mean you disagree? Is it you calling someone a reactionary? Are you trying to shame someone for speaking nonsense? There really is no real consensus to what the votes even represent, what they do do is give you some sense of a general consensus.
sure, and i think there’s a similar level of vagueness to booing, which is why i compared it to that. basically it’s whether or not someone had a significantly positive or negative reaction to your post/comment, which yes there can be lots of reasons for but they still provide, as you said, a general idea of how people feel about something.