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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[–] AlderaanDuran 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Honestly, on any site that keeps track of "points", it's impossible. Many people don't like getting downvoted, so they will tend to withhold comments they know would be unpopular. This means that "popular" comments dominate. If there's a circlejerk going on about how much Reddit sucks, and how banning FPH was a violation of free speech, a comment coming in and saying "It was a toxic community and I agree with the banning" would be heavily downvoted. And that's just one relevant example. So, people refrain from posting that sentiment. So all your left with is the circlejerk/hive comments getting heavily upvoted.
That's the one problem with sites like voat and reddit, the "points". Not all of us care about them, I don't. I've taken plenty of downvotes on here for unpopular opinions and don't care. So have many others. But there is a large majority of people who care about upvotes, and more importantly don't want to get downvoted. So they withhold comments. In the end, that prevents true discussion, and what you're left with is a comment that everyone agrees with, followed by a bunch of other comments that are "Yeah, I know right!?" All of them getting upvoted.
So, I don't have an answer, but displaying points and keeping track of points is like keeping score for a lot of people. It will guide discussion whether that is the intent or not.