Can we have upvotes/downvotes for comments?
TappedOut forum
Posted on April 1, 2016, 12:35 a.m. by KillDatBUG
Like seriously, how the hell do we not have that feature? Everyone other site with comments does it, so why don't we do it?
Yes, seems pretty unnecessary.
Now a thread up-vote/down-vote might have merit to highlight beneficial or helpful threads beyond the stickied ones.
April 1, 2016 12:42 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
You'll notice that we don't have downvotes at all. yeaGO's opinion (and I agree) is that downvotes really only promote or exacerbate toxicity in the community. And, based on what we've seen with deck ratings, upvotes are largely a popularity contest anyway.
If we were to do anything, I might get behind a "helpful" rating for comments. And whether ratings should be public is another question.
April 1, 2016 12:43 a.m.
GoldGhost012 says... #5
Lockwert: Being different and unique is good? I dunno, that was the first thing I thought of when I posted. This question has been asked in the past, but I didn't remember the exact reason (that Epoch has now posted).
April 1, 2016 12:47 a.m.
KillDatBUG says... #7
I know that downvotes can cause toxicity, but they can also lead to better content through setting standards. In the same way, upvotes can also increase the quality of content through promoting the really good content and inspiring people to do better.
If anything, the Reddit thread on Magic is actually a great example of how upvotes and downvotes can be utilized in a great way. I know it's kinda odd to praise Reddit, but that subreddit's legit. Check it out for yourself!
April 1, 2016 12:54 a.m.
canterlotguardian says... #8
Not when there are members of our community that don't (or don't want to) know how to control their "tongues" when tempers flare. You don't want to make a situation worse by someone saying to themselves, "This person did X thing that I didn't like. I'm going to go in and downvote everything they've ever done! And I'll get a bunch of people to do the same!" And no I'm not jumping to extremes. I've seen it in action in other sites.
April 1, 2016 12:54 a.m.
'Everyone other site with comments does it, so why don't we do it?'
We shouldn't really do something just because everyone else is doing it...
I don't really think they are required, I mean, what would people gain from someone's comment/opinion having an imaginary criticism-like number on it, or even a positive/upvote number?
April 1, 2016 4:35 a.m.
Epochalyptik says... #11
@Lockwert: I guess I just don't see any reason to assume they'd be used differently.
I have to think back to the several community incidents I've had to moderate, and downvotes would only have worsened them.
Even for the average user, I like to think that the community focus should be on education rather than on an "I-think-you-think" debate of sorts. If someone gives inaccurate information, I don't think they should be punished for it. Other users should provide correct information to clarify the situation (or at least help the user articulate his/her opinion further). Downvotes would do more as a punishment mechanism than as an educational mechanism.
And turning the actual community interaction into a popularity contest by allowing people to upvote or downvote what you say (as opposed to only being able to upvote the decks you've made) is probably a bad idea. What I don't like about that kind of rating system is that it generates a very visual (or, if the numbers aren't displayed, a perceived) indication of division within the community. I guess the argument could be made that this might encourage people to conduct themselves better, but I feel as though the potential and the likelihood for negative impact outweighs that benefit.
For a little bit of history, the idea of comment karma or votes has been around for a while. I think the last time it was brought up, there was discussion about the idea I mentioned earlier: having a "helpful" vote with no negative corollary. Downvoting isn't really a necessary part of the equation. It doesn't offer balance, and the impact is generally negative. And naming the upvote with some kind of indication of how it should be used might help prevent comment voting from being primarily a popularity contest.
To be frank, we've had complaints about toxicity in the community in the past. There's a tendency for users to dogpile on people who think differently (or, dare I say it, incorrectly) about certain things. Many discussions devolve into several users complaining about how someone is an obvious troll or idiot. I (and I think I can safely include yeaGO in this) am not interested in supporting features that facilitate that kind of behavior or mentality. I'd rather move toward an environment where users don't feel the need to bash one another over a difference of opinions.
April 1, 2016 9:27 a.m.
Femme_Fatale says... #12
Please look to the sticky thread about bugs and feature suggestions. This topic has already been discussed at great length.
April 2, 2016 2:30 a.m.
metalevolence says... #13
I wish so hard there were downvotes for decks. I really dislike how often the top decks are based around jokes and memes and have a description full of memetic garbage (like everything hamiam posts.) I know that probably would still happen if we had downvotes, but at least I'd feel like I did my part to stop them...
April 26, 2016 12:08 p.m. Edited.
Epochalyptik says... #14
I'm so glad you revived this thread for such an insightful and nuanced post.
Not.
GoldGhost012 says... #2
Maybe that's the reason we don't have it.
Why do we need it?
April 1, 2016 12:36 a.m.