I've heard of communities improving when downvoting was added as an option, and deteriorating when downvoting was added as an option. I've also been along for

I've heard of communities improving when downvoting was added as an option, and deteriorating when downvoting was added as an option. I've also been along for the ride for the former, and then the community revolt when they tried to remove it in a forum upgrade (it was later re-added.) > It's an awful experience It can be, if taken the wrong way. It's important to stress that one shouldn't get too freaked out over losing some meaningless internet points over what may have very well been a misclick. Keeping this in mind, it has not been an awful experience for me when I've been downvoted. I wouldn't even say it's been a bad experience for me. > Most people use to show they disagree with a comment. I think this is only true when the reasoning or tone is poor - or at least that's the only case the negatives outweigh the positives. I've seen exceedingly few downvotes when I've disagreed and argued here on HN. As an extreme example, I've seen a thread advocating Cannibalism in a serious tone gain rating, due to it's solid reasoning and proper treatment of the pros and cons of the matter. More typical topics behave similarly - constructive, well reasoned disagreement gains more points than it looses. This on a forum unlike HN - in that, I believe, you could downvote immediately upon account creation.