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[–] upvoatme 0 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago 

If you open up one person's mind with your comment for the better you should be happy. Social validation is less important than learning. No need to be upset about people not agreeing with you.

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[–] 123_456 0 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago 

I actively fight giving downvoats, but I sort of have to remind myself each time that I do not want to create the community that is reddit. So, I don't use downvoats as a disagree button.

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[–] coinslists 0 points 4 points (+4|-0) ago 

Downvotes should be a "that's useless" button. Dissenting opinions should be welcomed. Minds that don't change belong to dead souls.

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[–] tiecuando ago 

I think people that downvote as disagreement actually believe the comment they've downvoted is useless. Arrogance, narcisssm, the dunning-kreuger effect, etc.

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[–] Tawm 0 points 13 points (+13|-0) ago 

Exactly, the whole 'downvote = disagree' attitude is a big part of why Reddit became such an echo chamber. People want Voat to be different, but they don't realize that how the community acts has a major influence on how the site works. If people want Voat to be more discussion based than Reddit has been lately, they have to actually discuss things instead of downvoting people for being 'stupid'.

Nobody wants to put effort into writing a comment if they are just going to get downvoated for having an unpopular opinion. As people get discouraged from downvotes, they might start giving up on commenting. This leads to the discussion being dominated by people supporting the popular opinion, and once the only people left are the people who agree on everything, there's not even anything to discuss anymore.

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[–] PM_ME_YOUR_PLOT_HOLE 1 point 1 point (+2|-1) ago 

I downvoat people convinced that the raliens live amongst us. I don't need to explain why I do that.

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[–] CptnCrunch 1 point 3 points (+4|-1) ago  (edited ago)

Shitty effort is worthy of a downvote. Spam is worthy of a report.

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[–] davydaggers 3 points -3 points (+0|-3) ago 

downvotes are how keyboard warrior faggots like you censor dissenting views. this is what we have to fight against.

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[–] CptnCrunch 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

My first downvoat, thanks

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[–] flamero 0 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago 

I shouldn't have to continuously apologize for possibly offending people, so people don't shutdown when reading my comment and going into autodownvote mode. I shouldn't have to explicitly state if I'm playing devil's advocate or if something is not my personal views.

This is exactly the reason why I refrain from contributing in most cases when I only want to bring up an opinion or another point of view to create more discussion. If I don't preemptively apologize or explain why I'm posting the comment I'll get showered with downvotes and I really don't feel like every comment should be written as an essay.
This is especially true on topics which a lot of people have very strong feelings about, such as freedoms, rights and politics and whatnot. You ask a question or bring up an opposite view in any manner and your comment is instantly downvoted below threshold.

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[–] davydaggers 2 points -2 points (+0|-2) ago 

downvotes are how keyboard warrior faggots censor dissenting views. this is what we have to fight against.

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[–] plastination_station 0 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago 

I'm right there with you. commenting should be like talking.

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[–] big_fat_dangus [S] 2 points 23 points (+25|-2) ago 

Sounds like you care more about what people think of what you have to say, than what you have to say.

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[–] KLOP5 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Getting downvoated means your comment gets buried if you go against the circlejerk, even if you make a thoughtful well reasoned post. It means that people can get discouraged from having dissenting opinions, even if they are correct. If you had to make a comment of a certain length before downvoating, that could decrease the amount of low-effort downvoating and encourage more discussion.

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[–] Leakyradio ago 

Why say anything if you don't care about the audience your communicating with though?

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[–] DjangoRed 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago 

If it matters to you at all, I think @Reow said it best. Exposure is huge.

Additionally, I already know my opinions. I don't need to write a comment to know what I think. When I comment earnestly it's because I think I have something of value to contribute. Yes, I do it for the points too. But leaving a comment allows me to spread my knowledge, and possibly learn from others who are more versed in a subject than I am.

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[–] obriets34 2 points -2 points (+0|-2) ago 

you realize you're a faggot retard with your head up your asshole right? lazy faggot thoughtless morons like you RELY on the downvote because you're too fucking stupid to construct a thoughtful coherent point.

a dumbfuck like you wouldn't care if you were downvoted because you have nothing relevant to say anyway.

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[–] immibis ago 

Now this is the kind of post downvotes exist for...

But do we actually need downvotes to handle them? Or is reporting sufficient?

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