I’m not sure if this is unpopular per se, but yeah, I don’t think people on here are voting in a consistent way and that makes it confusing to know which posts are actually unpopular opinions.

I have seen people say something like “nice unpopular opinion, take my upvote”, but the votes don’t reflect that sentiment when a truly unpopular opinion is posted and it’s heavily downvoted. Also, in reverse, posts that appear to be agreed-upon popular opinions are massively upvoted.

I think a good number of people on here downvote opinions they don’t agree with, which is a reflex I can empathize with, but doing that might discourage people to post here. So, I think people should upvoting posts you don’t agree with.

And I think that it should be posted clearly for people to read and refer to in the about section of the community. I think maybe it should be a pinned post too (at least for a little while) because I don’t think everyone reads the about sections.

TL;DR — For the sake of clarity, there should be a posted rule that basically states: upvotes mean you don’t agree with the opinion and downvotes mean you agree. So, if you agree with this post please downvote it.

  • Fudoshin ️🏳️‍🌈
    0•9 months ago

    I read your post.

    I’m arguing against downvotes site-wide

    I upvote people I disagree with as much as people I agree with. Because I like being challenged.

    You are precisely the person I’m arguing against. You use downvotes for disagreement (your second paragraph).

    This hides comments, people rarely know why because their comment gets hidden by the influx of downvotes.

    This has multiple effects:

    • Radicalises and victimizes people. So they end up only knowing that their views aren’t popular. Rather than adjust their views they’re likely to double down. They aren’t challenged. So they may seek out things like QAnon or anti Vax or whatever other echo chambers for their views to be validated. It’s peer pressure without feedback. It’s harmful.
    • The very act creates an echo chamber by hiding dissenting comments under a pile of downvotes.
    • As a result of creating an echo chamber you never have your own views challenged.
    • It promoted low quality, repetitive humour. Have you not noticed reviews top 3 comments are always shit, predictable jokes and puns?

    I’m aware I can’t change everyone’s habits but I personally will downvote except in rare circumstances and I’m explaining why.

    P.S. if I strongly disagree with someone but can’t be bothered to comment I just don’t vote and move on. Sometimes I come back and explain. Downvotes are lazy and cause problems.

    • MojoOP
      4•9 months ago

      Your opinion is valid, but it isn’t really relevant to my post so encourage you to make you own post about it