Reddit did try this, they use downvotes as a way to prevent showing poorly written or short content, but they didn’t properly explain it and so I feel that it probably wouldn’t be able to be explained.
I see your point, but I believe there’s a bit more to it. In my understanding, Reddit has sort of turned the down-voting system into a game - it influences the sorting algorithm and fosters a competitive environment for opinions rather than acting purely as a filter for content quality. If we were to make down-vote counts invisible and exclude them from the sorting process, we might be able to remove this element of competition.
Reddit did try this, they use downvotes as a way to prevent showing poorly written or short content, but they didn’t properly explain it and so I feel that it probably wouldn’t be able to be explained.
I see your point, but I believe there’s a bit more to it. In my understanding, Reddit has sort of turned the down-voting system into a game - it influences the sorting algorithm and fosters a competitive environment for opinions rather than acting purely as a filter for content quality. If we were to make down-vote counts invisible and exclude them from the sorting process, we might be able to remove this element of competition.