this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2024
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Unpopular Opinion

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Social media platforms should not display post scores to the users (lemm.ee)
submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
25 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The ability to up- and downvote posts and comments is useful but the score should not be displayed to the users and you shouldn't be able to enable it even if you wanted to. This means both, posts made by you as well as by others.

Nobody wants to see their messages get downvoted. This is bad for our mental health as individuals but especially as a group. It's like walking up to a person on the street, saying "I don't like you" and then moving on. You're free to not like (downvote) someone but they don't need to hear it. If you really want them to know then write a message and explain yourself.

Upvotes on the other hand skews the reality and encourages groupthink. People say what is popular even if they don't fully buy it themselves and conversely refrain from saying things they truly believe because they then dont get the upvotes and get downvoted instead.

Seeing the scores also primes the reader. When something is heavily upvoted for example you assume it to be true/good instead of using your own judgement to decide.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (3 children)

Nobody wants to see their messages get downvoted. This is bad for our mental health as individuals but especially as a group.

I think that at some point in your life you gotta face the fact that there is a sizeable percentage of population that is going to disagree with you whatever your opinion is. And more than that, sometimes you're gonna say dumb things and in that moment you need the checks and balances of other individuals to tell you that you're an asshole. The opposite mechanism of that is called echo chambering and in less than two decades of social media already produced flat earthers, incels, anti-vaxxers and a fresh rise of fascism in western society.

Being wrong is not the end of the world, admitting that and trying to fix it is the first step towards being a better individual.
Either that or go retire on a mountain and spend your time with goats. They're never gonna downvote your posts and you will increase cheese production, this way we all win.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

Yeah god knows I've been downvoted. Take it as some introspection. Do they really not like what you're saying? Was there honestly a reason for it? Is that a community you want to be a part of?

Downvotes are the spice to message boards, people need to know when they're posting crap that nobody likes. Look at Facebook. No dislikes so everyone thinks their right wing shitty memes are worth posting because 200 people on the platform said it was funny. Same here, if you want to post that, you should know how many people disliked it

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

I think that at some point in your life you gotta face the fact that there is a sizeable percentage of population that is going to disagree with you whatever your opinion is

You don't have to face it all the time without asking for it though.

And more than that, sometimes you’re gonna say dumb things and in that moment you need the checks and balances of other individuals to tell you that you’re an asshole.

Has nothing to do with reactions. Just telling someone they are an asshole is simply noise. And upvotes\downvotes do not allow you to embed arguments.

The opposite mechanism of that is called echo chambering and in less than two decades of social media already produced flat earthers, incels, anti-vaxxers and a fresh rise of fascism in western society.

Actually this very mechanism is called echo chambering. When you pressure people thinking differently to be silent, so they leave. And, of course, those groups you've mentioned existed long before social media.

Being wrong is not the end of the world, admitting that and trying to fix it is the first step towards being a better individual.

Which is why wrong people shouldn't have the downvote\upvote button, and right people don't use those anyway.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You, like many others here are just focusing on downvotes which is not what my post is about. Instagram, Twitter and Facebook dont have downvotes but my argument applies to those platforms aswell. Seeing the number of likes is equally damaging and we should get rid of those aswell.

If I had a problem with people disagreeing with me I wouldn't be making posts on c/unpopularopinion

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I cannot speak for others, but I'm focusing on downvotes because you talked about downvotes and mental health (I even quoted you).

I kinda, sorta, 50% agree with the part about "upvotes": I get what you're talking about but I don't think the "like/dislike" system is the cause of "pack mentality" in social media. I rather believe it's an effect of this human aspect and it shouldn't be stigmatized, but used as a point of reflection about the environment in which we post our topics.
But I'm not a psychologist or an anthropologist, so I'm not gonna argue with that.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

I wholeheartedly agree. When you have an upvote/downvote structure, there is an incentive to not go against the grain and just post stuff that's considered "acceptable" in the local community.

Not everyone treats the votes the same way as well. Some people downvote because they don't agree with the content, the poster, just because they sound disagreeable or simply because the post is too much to read. You can apply the same myriad of methods to upvotes. Not one motivator is the same.

If we'd ditch showing the numbers and just have them work under the hood, discussions might start looking a lot more genuine.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

I think "scoring" posts can be useful

For example, when I search for an instructional/tutorial video on YouTube, I tend to look at videos that have a love of likes and I'm generally satisfied with those videos

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

yeah i kind of agree. unlike some of the edgelords in these comments though i do have some nuanced thoughts as well.

  1. top-level text posts and long format content should show all votes as well as the like/dislike ratio. this allows me to see if a 20 page article or :45 min video is worth my time as opposed to just trolling or bad writing. (looking at you, Youtube 😒)

  2. highly personal social content should have likes obfuscated so as not to be front and center to prioritize mental health. Instagram did this a while ago and I agreed with that decision.

  3. for comments, i personally like when upvotes only are displayed. having a downvote button that affects the algorithm is good but i think i get a more human social experience when the downvote button doesn’t affect the post score.

  4. when a comment gets like -20 downvotes the app should auto-collapse it and prompt me before i open it because it’s likely irrelevant if not downright hate speech.

/disclaimer this is my opinion, im not a social media analyst, your mileage can and will vary/

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This is bad for our mental health

I mean, if downvotes already have that effect on you, you should get off social media immediately. It only gets worse from there.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

I've adressed this argument in several other replies. This is not about just downvotes and this is not about me either.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

https://cohost.org/ Social media with no visible metrics.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Either that or upvotes\downvotes shouldn't be anonymous.

I agree with you, just people like these reactions too much, so if we leave them, there's that possibility.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I think the votes are not anonymous on Lemmy. With certain apps you can see who has up- / downvoted you.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Logically they shouldn't be with open federated structure, but the web interface sadly doesn't display such information. Would be a good change.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 8 months ago (2 children)

A downvote doesn't mean they don't like you, the downvoter doesn't even know you.

A downvote means they disagree with the content, they find it harmful, or it just isn't relavent to the topic.

If you really hate downvotes there is Beehaw.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's hilarious that you're getting downvoted for this lol

Did people downvote you because they disagreed, found it harmful, or found it irrelevant? If so they just proved your point...I guess unless they know you

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I just have to laugh about downvotes. Was the same way on Reddit, sometimes there is no obvious reason. Maybe they are downvoting the mention of Beehaw.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

A lot of lemmy users like to pretend that it's totally different than reddit. But aside from federation, it's the same shit with the same people acting the same way...

[–] [email protected] -4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

My argument equally applies to upvotes.

This isn't about me, it's about our society as a whole. I can disable post scores for me but that doesn't solve the underlying issue.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

HASHTAG WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY HASHTAG JOKER IRL HASHTAG FIGHTCLUB

[–] [email protected] -4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

If up or down votes bother you, then have some serious issues. You need to re examine your priorities. Maybe posting on social media is not good for you. You have too fragile of an ego if you get upset that someone disagrees with you. Life if full of people who disagree with you. If you can't handle it, then you need help. I'm sure this comment will get a ton of down votes, but I don't care. They don't bother me because I'm not fragile. I live in the real world and understand that what people think of something I write doesn't really make a difference my life.

I really hope you are not in the majority, otherwise this world is doomed.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

It affects you aswell. We're social animals and we care what others think of us. You can say it doesn't affect you but it does. Unless you're a psychopath ofcourse.

This isn't about just downvotes either. Seeing the upvotes (or lack there of) is equally damaging. Just look at what platforms like Instagram are doing to the mental health of young girls especially.

I don't mind disagreement. You can go thru my post history and discover that I don't shy away from voicing my controversial opinions even when I know it's going to be unpopular. I'm open to have my mind changed and I welcome all good-faith critizism. Of course I take a little issue with people like you who focus on critizing me instead of what I'm saying (ad hominem) but as long as you're at least in some way contributing to the discussion I'm happy to hear your opinion.