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> Add a downvote button so the rabid folks of either extreme will downvote each other into oblivion. Downvoting just adds fuel to the fire. It's a classic tec
by tablespoon 5y ago
> Add a downvote button so the rabid folks of either extreme will downvote each other into oblivion.
Downvoting just adds fuel to the fire. It's a classic technical "solution" to a social problem. We've known it doesn't work since the early 2000s, but people keep trying it because it's cheap.
- doubleunplussed 5y agoWorks pretty well on Reddit. It's not perfect, but reddit threads sorted by "best" are a sight better than threads sorted by "new". Upvotes-only wouldn't get you the same effect, since "best" is about the ratio. Honestly twitter should implement downvotes and just copy reddit's thread-sorting system verbatim. Finally, I swear I saw downvotes on the Twitter app some time in the last few months. Unless it was an April fools joke, it was briefly a real feature! What happened?
- tablespoon 5y ago> Works pretty well on Reddit. Reddit doesn't actually work that well, and it only works as well as it does because of human moderation outsourced to people volunteering for a for-profit company. > Finally, I swear I saw downvotes on the Twitter app some time in the last few months. Unless it was an April fools joke, it was briefly a real feature! What happened? They did some A/B tests. I don't use Twitter, but it was in the news.