• HereIAm@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    In addition to what others said, in comments the down vote is meant to be used on comments that don’t further discussion in good faith.

    I used to subscribe to that idea, but I’ve since changed my mind. If the far majority use upvotes to mean agreement, then me upvoting a controversial, but well structured, opinion will likely be viewed as agreement as well.

    It’s a nice idea to think the voting system is meant to promote discussion, instead of homogenise opinions in a community.

    • Cris@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Yeah, that’s kind of the nature of communication I think, and ultimately votes are a form of communication :/

      If people understand them to mean agreement or disagreement, that’s the message they’ll recieve regardless of whether it was the message that you were trying to send.

      I guess if I wanna convey I appreciate someone’s contribution even though I don’t share their perspective I can always leave a comment, that seems like something I’d appreciate seeing in my inbox personally so maybe it’s worthwhile for me to make that a habit

      • HereIAm@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Yeah that’s something I do sometimes as well. I usually just don’t vote on a comment as a third option for when I disagree with them, but don’t want to punish having a different viewpoint ^^