Would this- in your idea- in theory allow one to see who up/down voted what and/or be visible/traceable from their forum profile or would it be anonymous all around? Whether or not introduces an interesting dynamic that may or may not affect what your hoping to see from this.

I was thinking about the way it works on reddit. It's anonymous there.

Here are some of the drawbacks (in general) I see with that. Random/new/inactive or otherwise 0 or low post accounts. Why anyone would want to take the time to do that here is beyond me but again, in general.

Oh. I guess that was all. :grin:

Reddit has an algorithm to undermine the effect of that, but reddit is gigantic.

Up and down voting can contribute to the hive mind vibe that reddit can have, but again, I think that's because it's huge.

I was thinking that here, if only for a week, it would be a source of group moderating, which can be helpful both for voters, who get to feel like their opinion counted, and for targets of voting who may not realize how much their posts are appreciated, or not.

Why do you think we should do counts? I am a fragile ego, affected by others opinions, but do you really think that a quantative approach and estimation of counting is a real manner of judging opinions.
I like people responding to me for dialogue to further my thinking and hopefully the thoughts of others, but in an ultimate sense what is the value of counts other than to massage the vanities of the ego?

I like people responding to me for dialogue to further my thinking and hopefully the thoughts of others, but in an ultimate sense what is the value of counts other than to massage the vanities of the ego? — Jack Cummins

Egos get massaged one way or another. A crowd of downvotes can put a stop to that when it's harming the forum by effectively disinviting engagement.

Why would it be beneficial? Upvoting and downvoting comments just seems like a cheap way to engage in a conversation personally, and the whole system would just discourage any productive discussion because of it. If you want to tell people that you like or dislike their comment, then you can do it already through a response :up: .

Ok Mr Bee. I have to agree with you because my dog is named Bee.

Peace :victory:

I agree with Mr Bee that it would cheapen the value of this site entirely. The beauty of the site is its freedom to keep the opportunities of discussion open. We can all see whether people wish to engage with us or take the hint and bow out of any thread we have opened.
By quantifying popularity the diversity of discussion would be lost entirely and if you are so against the freedom of this site perhaps you are best sticking to Reddit, if you are fearful of the scope for free expression of ideas.

perhaps you are best sticking to Reddit — Jack Cummins

Ok.

But you are probably best if you keep on this site as well if you want the fullest discussions rather than the most shallow. You can dip in and out of sites as you please to keep all your options open and you don't have to read the endless ones that keep coming up.
I have written a lot of responses in the Las week and I am sure that people are sick of my name. No one need read what I have to say at all but the site allows for expression and possible connections with other minds wrestling with certain ideas as they arise.

I think it might be beneficial if up and down voting were added to the forum so people could get a better sense of how their posts are perceived by others.

If only temporarily? — frank

:down:

Sounds more like a way to bully people with unpopular opinions into leaving the forum.

Nope. I don't see how this could positively effect a forum like this. Shouldn't those with intellectual pursuits be interested in viewpoints that contrast theirs? (And hopefully be mature enough to deal with the fact that such viewpoints exist)

:down:

I think it might be beneficial if up and down voting were added to the forum so people could get a better sense of how their posts are perceived by others.

If only temporarily? — frank

:down:

Oh! I've been downvoted! I should ponder what that means!

See? Who wouldn't want more of that?

Wouldn't it be handier if you didn't have to post that thumb but instead you could just downvote the post? Or are you just demonstrating to frank, how bad it feels to get downvoted, and normally you wouldn't post plain thumbs?

are you just demonstrating to frank, how bad it feels to get downvoted, and normally you wouldn't post plain thumbs? — Jarmo

Do we really need to explain?

I was one of the first (I think the first) to use the thumbs up to show appreciation when emojis expanded, so I get it.

It was just an idea. Adios.

Perhaps it is just time to start a new post because philosophy is not meant to be a contest. In the game of philosophy there is no ultimate failure, apart from when philosophies are applied to the
matters of practical living but that is another matter entirely.

I guess it should have been obvious.

I've been thinking that a voting system could be handy namely for upvoting a post rather than downvoting. There have been times when I've been writing a reply to something and then someone posts before me with a better reply than I ever could have. Worthy of an upvote! Maybe I'm an optimist for thinking that such downvote bullying wouldn't be a thing on a forum like this.

Because it is a philosophy forum, I believe we should vote up or down with our discussions. We are here to say why we disagree. I think an up or down arrow might discourage people from voicing the "why", when the "why" is key in philosophy.

That being said, my feelings may not pan out in reality. Perhaps a study exists somewhere showing this. So not a bad proposal, but my first thought is, "No".

Putting this out of its misery.