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Not a mod, but this came up here: https://beehaw.org/comment/29314 and is linked in the Beehaw FAQ post about downvotes being disabled. The context is in the comment thread linked there.
From what I understand, the main reasoning was that if you want to disagree with someone you have to put some thought and effort into it such as a comment which could be a jumping off point to a discussion.
Downvotes are disabled because they add nothing to the conversation/discussion
Downvote are disabled on this instance. Its not a bug, its a feature!
Why would they be disabled? Doesn’t that skew the merit of pretty much everything?
The merit comes from the content of the post not a pointless number tacked onto it. This isn't reddit.
If the numbers were pointless, there would be no reason to disable them.
It's working pretty well. Only complaints are people who didn't read and see it's disabled.
Why would you join an instance with downvotes explicitly stated not to be in use in multiple places, to just complain and ask to change it when you can easily join others that have downvotes?
That is true but not really relevant to what I said. By saying that it's working pretty well, you're in fact confirming my point that the presence or absence of downvotes matters. If they truly didn't matter, Beehaw would have no reason to disable them. Or, if Beehaw wanted to be a lightweight experience with no unnecessary fluff, it would remove both downvotes and upvotes.
I don’t think the idea is that it doesn’t matter, I think the idea is that if you disagree with someone, you should put some effort into it. On Reddit, the downvote function only really works to hide and punish opinions that the community sees as bad, which doesn’t really contribute very much in that respect. Upvotes work for indicating agreement because if you agree with a point you probably don’t have much to add to it, and if you do, you can both upvote and reply.
In general, not talking directly to OP, it is important to read about the instance you're joining to make sure you're in the right place.
The "no downvoting" was the selling point for me on this instance. Love it.
You like; you vote.
Don't like; keep on scrolling.
If I were to post an opinionated piece or even comment, let's say, "Cryptocurrency is a scam," and I start getting loads of upvotes this post might be "hot" or whatever. But, then the Cryptocurrency gang rolls on in and starts downvoting me to oblivion. Now it looks like I posted some silly nonsense. People aren't even going to look at it. What if I had just given the most awesome advice or perfect answer, and just because someone on the net disagrees and things I am wrong it starts a battle between strangers?
No. Thank you.
Can someone explain the rationale behind downvotes being disabled?