A number of us have at least one stalker user that just follows us around and down votes every post/every message we make, and in my case I think this user is u/Corporis. In my opinion, such behavior is not valid forum behavior and removing such users entirely from the platform would be not censorship, since these users are abusing the platform's voting system with what is, ultimately, a form of spam.
Thoughts?
I disagree with getting rid of down votes. Down votes are a useful tool for sorting through content and determining whether or not the content is considered by others to be controversial or positive or negative, etc. for example, I might come across a comment and it jives with me in a certain way because I might be gullible for a specific kind of factoid, but then I notice that about 50% of people down voted and I might think a little bit more critically about it. Just like Amazon reviews; it's not the review format that's broken, it's just the lack of effort put into policing it correctly.
By having down votes, they're an attack on somebody speaking. It isn't disagreement. Disagreement you can just ignore or block. Down votes attack what somebody else says, often without even debating it with them. Sure they might be an asshole or even wrong. But why would you attack them for it.
They're also a tool of trolls attacking everything said for no other reason apart from trolling.
They're a dystopian mind trick. It sooner suppresses speech, into that is right and that's wrong. An agenda to control speech for profit and manipulation. It isn't free speech where there is no wrong answer.
Get rid of them, they aren't free speech.
Why not have a system wherein verified names can downvote, and alts are free to have but can't downvote? That would reduce the number of troll army members. I think Truth Social will go that way.
Edit: Ah, now I know that new accounts can't downvote; they have to age. That suggests that the troll alts we see were prepared and let sit to age before being used to downvote.
No just get rid of downvotes. It solves everything. There's no manipulating speech. We don't vote on speech. We walk away from it, if it offends. Or we block it.
We vote on elections. But there is no president of social media. Assholes today might think they're with all their fake followers, and fake likes, and retweets. But there is no president of social media. Instead that attitude has turned into dystopia. Suddenly it has created a woke cancel culture of trolls telling everybody else what to say because they speak like hypocrites. That programming votes and down votes, or likes and dislikes are the direct fault. Get rid of them problem solved. Not quite. The stupid laws need to go back to free speech. Not whatever this crap has become with its bullshit checkers and little gimping trolls correcting the narrative. Fuck off. Let people speak, freely. Yea not happening, but it's nice to dream of that other time before the before the bullshit. Where sites like 4chan were allowed everywhere.
There is no social score on speech. It faster isn't free speech.