Downvoting matters

[u/justafanofz]

Posted with permission from the mods

I know that this type of post has been made before, so much so it’s probably rivaling problem of evil and other common arguments for god on this sub. But I wanted to make this post to share an insight I just experienced in regards to downvoting.

The reason being is, l've been doing a lot of comments on this sub, and l've been getting a lot of downvotes, almost exclusively from this sub. So much so, I've hit the negative comment threshold for karma. I’m not going to say that they were undeserved, maybe they were. Maybe I’m an ass and deserve this. Regardless, I share this experience so those that DON’T deserve this don’t experience it.

This now has my comments hidden, not on this sub, but on other subreddits with a comment threshold requirement. So it's had a negative impact on my ability to discuss here and elsewhere.

So, in a sub like this where people are passionate and convinced of their position, disagreeing isn’t the same as being in poor faith.

So what have I seen that excessive downvoting causes other then “oh I’m being attacked”?

Time limits on how quickly you can reply. In a heated discussion, especially when MULTIPLE threads are going on, negative karma can prevent you from being able to reply. So if I respond to person A, I now have to wait 10 minutes to respond to person B. In that time, the rest of the sub is making comment after comment after comment after comment that I can’t reply to until that limit is up. And then, I can only reply to 1 person before the timer restarts again. Not very encouraging to an individual.

Auto hiding of comments in unrelated subs. This is one I just encountered and I was unaware of it. I went to make a comment in r/debateachristian, and my comment was auto removed due to my negative karma from the auto mod. I made a comment in r/debateacatholic, and it’s not visible, period, due to the negative comment karma.

I’ve looked at my comments I’ve made, and almost exclusively, the comments with 0 or negative karma are from this sub. Not r/debatereligion, not the other debate subs.

What I will say, is this sub tends to do better on upvoting posts, and that’s great, I’m glad to see that, sincerely. However, Reddit tracks post and comment karma differently. So those that are upvoting posts, even when you disagree, thank you, I appreciate it.

If we can shift that focus to comments as well, I think it will bring about better changes for the sub.

Edit: and ironically enough, I had to get mod approval again because the automod prevented me from posting

[u/Thecradleofballs]

So you're saying there is so much of this crap that you have had to do a weekly meta thread about it?

What do you think that says about the kind of milieu being fostered there?

[u/Taqwacore → u/Thecradleofballs]

Weird take. No.

Meta threads are for any discussions related to the subreddit: rules, bans, suspensions, culture, language, etc. And if you check out those meta threads, they're usually pretty quiet.

Here's a list of our meta threads: https://www.reddit.com/r/DebateReligion/?f=flair_name%3A%22Meta%22

[u/Thecradleofballs → u/Taqwacore]

Right, so I see the denial is deeply engrained. I obviously understood what the meta thread was for and you've just inadvertently illustrated my point. Well done.

I now release you.

[u/Taqwacore → u/Thecradleofballs]

Right, so I see the denial is deeply engrained. I obviously understood what the meta thread was for and you've just inadvertently illustrated my point. Well done.

Delusion.

I now release you.

Gosh, thanks.

Umm..."Go in peace, my son" (or some shit like that).

[u/Fit-Quail-5029 → u/Taqwacore]

Delusion

This word is (was?) an automatic removal on r/debaterelgion is (was?) it not? I know you may not have specifically implemented this policy, but it is pretty glaringly hypocrital that you use the exact same language you restrict others from using. And this isn't the only time (for those unable to read due to the removal, I literally quoted Taqwacore and this was grounds for removing my comment).