Voting for forum posts

[Timon Gehr]

On 01.04.21 10:05, RazvanN wrote:
> ...
> I think that this thread represents the best argument why a voting system
> is needed. You just posted a comment and the next 3-4 comments were 
> basically "+1".

Most of them with additional text.

If we had a voting system, your comment would have been voted

The post that got so much support _literally_ said that a voting system 
would be a bad idea, and why.

> and the verbosity of this thread would have diminished.
> ...

If that's a problem for web interface users, improve the web interface.

>> All that said, many websites make it worse than it needs to be with 
>> bad systems. (Bad for users, that is - maybe not bad for ruthlessly 
>> manipulating public opinion.) Up votes and down votes should always be 
>> tracked and displayed separately. Combined net counts are stupid and 
>> misleading: 0 upvotes and 100 downvotes means something very different 
>> from 10_000 upvotes and 10_100 downvotes.
> 
> What I get from this is that voting can be also good or bad depending on 
> how
> we use it. IMHO having an upvote/downvote scheme could be beneficial in
> some situations if it is implemented properly.
> ...

Downvotes are worse than useless. Just upvote the rebuttal instead; at 
least it will be clear what you voted for. E.g., if I just downvoted 
your post, that would not have helped you understand why.