I tend to think of downvoting as a mechanism to signal and filter low-quality content rather than as a mechanism to ‘spend karma’ on some goal or another. It seems that mass downvoting doesn’t really fit the goal of filtering content—it just lets you know that someone is either trolling LW in general, or just really doesn’t like someone in a way that they aren’t articulating in a PM or response to a comment/article.
I tend to think of downvoting as a mechanism to signal and filter low-quality content rather than as a mechanism to ‘spend karma’ on some goal or another. It seems that mass downvoting doesn’t really fit the goal of filtering content—it just lets you know that someone is either trolling LW in general, or just really doesn’t like someone in a way that they aren’t articulating in a PM or response to a comment/article.