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The possibility of downvotes creates an element of risk in posting a comment. Without that element of risk the only deterrent to trolling or violating communit
by iamelgringo 17y ago
The possibility of downvotes creates an element of risk in posting a comment. Without that element of risk the only deterrent to trolling or violating community standards is deleting or banning by the moderators. Moderating a site like this is an awful lot of work. The down vote arrow allows the community to police itself.
It's certainly not perfect, people have been down voted to oblivion. Pg has put in safeguards so people can only get down voted 5-10 points. I think that it's helped keep the community on track.
People take their karma very seriously for some reason. Notice the amount of angry posts when someone gets downvoted. :)
- SlyShy 17y agoRespectfully, I doubt downvoting is a deterrent to any troll. Trolls are already determined to anger the community. Downvoting is more of a deterrent to people who care what the community thinks of them--they might refrain from posting their contrary opinions as a result. That said, I still think downvoting is a useful function, because the point is to filter discussion.
- Semiapies 17y agoI personally like that trolling comments tend to rapidly vanish into light-gray text.
- SlyShy 17y agoYes, that's what I'm saying about the filtering, is that it serves to hide trolling comments. That doesn't necessarily mean that it reduces the number of trolls, as suggested by the parent.