It's no surprise that this would be common, especially in some subverses. But those that are supposed to be serious and for discussion often get poisoned by this. Up-votes and down-votes can make things rather one-sided and into a hive-mind of sorts.
How can we, mods or the community at large prevent hive mind mentality? Even if people don't downvote comments or posts that go against their beliefs they are less inclined to upvote than someone that agrees and makes other good points. Doesn't this foster some sort of hive mentality and where is it a good thing and where is it a bad thing? If I don't have an opinion yet about a topic and the highest comments are all about x is really y does this mean that it is right?
Does this promote conformity and stifle discussion indirectly?
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[–] nilceps [S] ago
Couldn't this be easily exploited though all I would need to do is give an upvote look at the score and then form my decision around that? And what about cascading votes, i.e. "This guy has been downvoted before I know that he is wrong further down the thread.
I've seen some of the subs that used those features but they didn't seem to do much, maybe it's because the community has already settled and wouldn't change their opinion but I think the problem is still there with positive and negative reinforcement.
[–] humanmilkfarm ago
I guess if you consider your mind your own enemy, then it would make sense to call it an exploit. The point is help remind people to make up their own damn mind. Sometimes that extra barrier, however little, can make a huge difference.