I get the sentiment to want that. But where I've seen it implemented, it just seems to start fights. Someone does a casual downvote and then it spirals into a steady retaliation and growing hate between individuals.
I've seen it on a local news Disqus forum where it seems fine... most posts get zero downvotes, one user downvotes everything posted by another user but it's like, eyeroll fine, some local issue takes get a few predictable ups & downs, and the occasional really bad take gets 10 to 100 downvotes
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Reply · Apr 18, 2023how so? that's how I've used them on arlnow (news site w disqus below) - like maybe one downvote every day or two usuallyReply · Apr 17, 2023hah! I like downvote- gives me some way to feel I've expressed my negative emotions without writing some angry reply that does no one any goodReply · Feb 23, 2022@StefanFSchubert I like public downvotes on a local news site that allows them- serve as a shorthand for "I strongly disagree" without starting a…Reply · Apr 18, 2023most comments would get a few to many upvotes and no downvotes, some minor controversies would get a few downvotes, and occasionally some nasty…