You use it for spam.
Then the button should be changed to say "report spam". A down arrow below an up arrow does not suggest the down is for reporting spam. It suggests it is the opposite of up, which is to say up it is like/agree according to how the vast majority of sites use an up arrow. Why have confusing UI/UX if it means something other than what is generally understood to have another meaning? Having to explain or defend bad UI/UX just means that the design is poorly thought out.
chill out, that's part of my next poll
I think it's wrong to assume the up arrow means "I agree." I tend to upvote people who put some effort in, even if I'm arguing with them. Up could also mean "important."
Having to explain or defend bad UI/UX just means that the design is poorly thought out.
Maybe.
So if up can mean "important", why would down not mean "unimportant"? There needs to be a consistent UI/UX and definitions if people are going to make such a big deal about this. If you can't answer what "up" is supposed to mean, then it's clearly not defined and understood on Poal. That's a failure.
I deemed your comment “non spam” by pressing the up arrow.
Downvote brigading is more likely to promote a herd mentality. And that is certainly what the feature would be used for if the downvotes were able to hide posts.
So would downvotes push a post/comment to the bottom? If so, then change that feature. If not, then remove the button entirely and replace with a Report Spam button or live with the fact heavily downvoted posts/comments would remain where they are based on time of posting (and whatever algorithms deal with upvote velocity and such).
As it is it seems like nothing more than a risk/reward button to condition users to act the way the admin wants. I'm not even that bunged up about making downvotes not a signal for disagreement, but it seems arbitrary and ill-suited to its supposed goal.
(post is archived)