The downvote option does make it easier to be negative, but it also gives people an option in between ignoring trolls (and risking people thinking that other people don’t have a problem with them) and engaging them (and rewarding them). It also lets people express disapproval of a post without wasting another post saying nothing but “I disagree”. Of course, people still do downvote and then also post a comment that has no semantic content other than “I don’t like you”.
At a party, there are all sorts of feedback: smiles, laughs, nods, frowns, awkward silences, glares, etc. The upvote/downvote is a rough analog of that.
The downvote option does make it easier to be negative, but it also gives people an option in between ignoring trolls (and risking people thinking that other people don’t have a problem with them) and engaging them (and rewarding them). It also lets people express disapproval of a post without wasting another post saying nothing but “I disagree”. Of course, people still do downvote and then also post a comment that has no semantic content other than “I don’t like you”.
At a party, there are all sorts of feedback: smiles, laughs, nods, frowns, awkward silences, glares, etc. The upvote/downvote is a rough analog of that.