When I first found out it was an interesting concept that I was pretty neutral on but the more I engage/lurk with the community the more I enjoy it.
I generally don’t post/comment much on Reddit because I tend to be extremely sincere and that’s not always well received. Usually I don’t get much hate, but what I do get is a lot of non-interaction mixed with downvotes. And it’s just really discouraging when I’m just trying to share my thoughts.
But having no downvotes here is so nice because I’m not afraid that I’m going to get silenced into oblivion. Either people will actually engage with me (and maybe disagree, but in a meaningful way), or they’ll move on and not randomly share their disdain via downvoting.
It’s such a small change but makes a big difference. I bet a lot of people feel the same as me - it’s more comfortable to engage here.
The only reason I used the downvote on Reddit was if someone was being anti-social, such as racism or any other ism or just general jerkishness for no good reason. I haven’t seen any of that yet here. When I do I’ll call it out.
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Reading the community manifesto it seems like we’re intended to be a “community” and if we disagree or find antisocial behavior we’re meant to talk to them about it, like a pastor pulling aside an angsty teenager to ask why they’re so on edge. Feels a bit like the distinction between prison vs reform-based incarceration, reform sounds nice but also feels so alien in our current system.