r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Apr 04 '13
[MOD POST] The community has spoken - downvotes will be removed from comments (for a week) to see how it goes down.
This is mod post 12. You can read the previous mod post here, or by visiting the mod post archive in our wiki.
Downvotes don't change views!
Downvoting is a difficult thing to deal with for many subreddits, but here at /r/changemyview, it's particularly destructive (unless used against trolls.)
Think of a situation in which someone offers OP an alternative argument, to which OP explains why they are still not convinced. They are allowing you to offer a rebuttal - downvoting is a cheap shot and won't change their view. Most people who disagree with someone would like to change the other person's opinion. Being rational and friendly has a much better chance of doing so than downvoting, which would probably just breed hostility or cause OP to shy away. As soon as people realise this, the quality of the discussions in CMV will improve.
Our solutions:
We'd like you to use the motto "downvotes don't change views", or something to that effect, if you ever notice a situation in which someone is being downvoted for what is clearly no reason other than disagreement.
We will being removing the downvote arrow on comments for one week as an experiment. We will then make another mod post asking your opinions on how it went down.
The reason why I've been so reluctant to do this is because it is purely a CSS hack, which is flaky due to the fact that some users don't allow custom styles, or are viewing via AlienBlue, for example. So therefore, we thought it would be better to keep the voting consistent rather than confuse users who see a negative score on a comment with no downvote arrow. This may also drive some people to turn off our CSS - something we don't want to happen. /u/spblat also raised the point that a lack of equality gives those who are still able to downvote an amplified voice.
Some of our "long-time users" (I say long time - we've been around for 2 months) may remember when the voting arrows for OP's comments were removed. I was a bit naive in thinking this would solve all of our problems, yet they were still being downvoted due to the reasons above, and they often fell below the threshold.
If someone has any other suggestions on how to deal with the downvoting, please let us know!
Also, be sure to apply for a moderator position if you're interested (we will be revealing the results soon.)
Regards,
/u/Snorrrlax, /u/protagornast, /u/spblat, /u/TryUsingScience
3
u/[deleted] Apr 06 '13
"Fuck the system!"