This is a general proposal that concerns Lemmy specifically, but also other forum-alike software that uses ActivityPub, such as Piefed.
For me, the original sin of social media is downvoting (rant incoming). Specifically, its rampant misuse as a “Me no like!!” button. Apart from conveying totally uninteresting information (i.e. a subjective binary opinion), downvoting encourages schoolyard social dynamics and discourages heterodox views (and therefore debate). The nearest in-person equivalent (saying “shut up”) is universally considered rude. At scale, the effect of downvoting is to brutalize a community that might otherwise be pleasant and welcoming. I believe this practice is almost always toxic and poisonous. Those who defend it (in good faith, I do not doubt) need to consider the possibility that it has helped to homogenize their communities into people like them (to caricature: insensitive males). Most ordinary people do not participate actively in social media. There’s a reason for that.
No, this is not a popular position here (cf. selection bias) and so it will of course be… downvoted. But it’s how I see it. I like to think that I’ve added some value to the fediverse with my contributions, but if there’s one thing that regularly causes me to consider leaving, it’s this. Going to Beehiv or Blahaj-whatsit is not a solution, because the communities I’m interested in are not there. Hiding downvote scores does not work because… it does not hide the downvoters.
Which gave me an idea. Given that the identity of downvoters is technically public, I propose a new setting: “Auto-block downvoters”. That’s it. Automatically hide comments (or posts, or anything) by users who have downvoted your contributions. Logical, no? They don’t care for what I have to say, and I don’t care for their inane negativity. It’s win-win! Lots of possible variants:
- Hide [ subsequent | all ] comments by users who have downvoted [ a post | a comment | anything ] by you [ in this thread | on this post | in this community | everywhere]
- Hide [etc] by users with an upvote-downvote ratio lower than [ X ]% etc
Such a setting (especially #1) would immeasurably improve my experience of Lemmy. No exaggeration. I like to think it might also serve as a subtle incentive for users to be more generous and tolerant in their behavior towards others, but that is secondary.
I don’t know about you, but I believe that the people who gave me a negative review can still create content that interests me. After all, if a person doesn’t agree with my opinion, it doesn’t make their comments and posts any worse for me. Otherwise, i can say something stupid that i would be ashamed to reread in 5 years and then block half of the platform.
Lemmi already has one of the softest voting systems. on Habr, for example, if your rating is negative, you can’t write comments at all.
That’s a fair position and honestly I wish I could see it that way. Perhaps it relates to personality. For me it has always felt pretty clear: the downvote button is a hate button. It’s otherwise redundant: “up” or “not up” is already a binary system which functions as an entirely adequate quality-control mechanism (with “report” being for abuse). If you scroll down this discussion you’ll see that literally everything I’ve said, even positive things like “I agree” or “Thanks” has been downvoted by multiple people. The button is being used a tool of mindless gratuitous hate, I don’t know how else to put it.
Obviously with this particular post I was asking for it. But it’s been the same story every time I’ve tried to launch any kind of discussion or debate. It’s such a disappointment.
Anyway. Hadn’t heard of Habr, clearly I won’t be going anyway near! Not sure how much longer I’ll be here either, to be honest.
Just relax, buddy. How many downvotes there? Dozens? Hundreds? There are 7 billion people on the planet. It’s impossible to please everyone. and that’s okay. in the end, they at least bothered to press the button. in this sense, indifference is much worse.
Sure, I understand this “just relax” position, it’s perfectly legitimate and it’s widely shared - HERE. In the post I mentioned my theory about selection bias - what if everyone here thought like you (plural) simply because all the others have left or just wouldn’t stomach being in such a aggressive environment in the first place? I’m a guy but how many females do you think are here, and why is that? What if I’m the only one complaining because I’m the single normie who somehow stuck it out this far and then had the balls to speak out? I’d argue that downvoting is the distillation of what a TON of people dislike about social media - the bad faith, the meanness of spirit, the herd dynamics. You’ll reply “Oh come on! Just relax” and you’ll be sincere, but try to imagine how these things might feel to people more sensitive than you. There are tons of them and I think it would have been nice if federated social media had provided a better experience.
AGAIN: this is not a criticism of you personally! You seem like a nice person and you’re polite and sincere (and admirably phlegmatic). But I really think in terms of psychology I’m closely to the average in the population. 90% of people do not participate actively on social media. To me it’s pretty clear that this problem of ambient hostility (perfectly represented by downvoting) is a big part of the reason.
Well, if you’re that sensitive, then fine. In fact, it’s just a classic fear of public speaking. If you’re uncomfortable expressing your opinion in front of a wide audience, why are you doing it? Not everyone likes you in the audience, yes, that’s right. There is no tragedy in this. And this is not a reason to ban everyone. Just don’t speak out publicly, gather an interest group and discuss some topics there. There are worse things in the world than voting against.
P.S. and you don’t have to stress so much that this is not a criticism of me. because it doesn’t matter. gather your will and just say what you want and let people do what they want with it. That’s how it works. There is a moderators for everything else.
UPD: I’m Russian in general, and I can catch downvotes just for breathing. not very often, but still. Well, that’s life.