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I was under the perception (new to HN) that downvotes are for when someone's comment does not add value to the conversation (eg. memes and name calling). Downvo
by justwanttolearn 5y ago
I was under the perception (new to HN) that downvotes are for when someone's comment does not add value to the conversation (eg. memes and name calling). Downvoting something you disagree is dangerous because it'll feed those that truly believe that to believe it even more (being silenced). Instead of downvoting we need to dedicate time to reason through why x is misinformation and walk through how you get to your conclusion. Sure not everyone has the time for that but also because no one is willing to dedicate time for that, we have this quick easy divisions with no explanation.
- Thiez 5y agoYour perception is incorrect. You are certainly not alone in wanting downvotes to be different, but the current policy is that downvotes for disagreement are allowed.
- justwanttolearn 5y agoI see, thank you for clarifying. That's kind of unfortunate because I feel that just because everyone feels one way doesn't mean that it is the truth. Sometimes when I don't have an opinion yet on a certain controversial topic and I go to a forum with no upvote/downvote system (very rare it exists), it lets me start with a un-biased ground and read critically into each person's pov.
- dwaltrip 5y agoHave you seen any official comment about how downvotes should be used? The guidelines don't even mention downvoting.
- Thiez 5y agoHere's one from one of the mods: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16131314 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16131314 It's pretty easy to find more of such comments by typing some keywords in Google: https://www.google.com/search?q=hackernews+downvote+disagreement https://www.google.com/search?q=hackernews+downvote+disagree...
- dwaltrip 5y agoThanks! That is helpful, I hadn't seen those.