I tend to upvote a post when it Links an interesting article or provokes an interesting conversation, and only downvote them when they voice an convectively bad opinion (like, bigotry or other unjustified vitriol).
I tend to upvote comments when they make a good point or at least try to support their argument, and only downvote them for the same reason as posts: when they are trolling, being unnecessarily aggressive, or trying to justify bigotry with fallacious reasoning or something
What about you?
I upvote when a post is helpful, funny, entertaining, or if I just want to let the poster know that their post was acknowledged . I rarely downvote, mostly reserved for trolls and unprovoked rudeness.
I try not to use downvotes unless someone expresses a truly gross point of view or outright says something that is wrong / counterfactual. I upvote the ones that stand out as useful / informative / funny / insightful for comments. I upvote most posts if I enjoy seeing them and any that are requests for information.
Memes: upvote if I find it funny
Text posts:
- upvote if agree
- do nothing if disagree, but the post is valid
- downvote if OP is trolling, or rude, or otherwise makes me uncomfortable
But, there are exceptions
What about comments?
Similar theory. That’s usually how I find out a poster is trolling. I ask for clarification and they double down on their original post
I try to reserve downvotes to bad faith commenters, though I downvoted some of the ai generated jeans spammers too when that started to get real old.
Sorry. I posted one because I couldn’t beat them, so I joined them.
…AI generated jeans spammers? What did I miss?
Jeans and beans
- Up - I want you to be encouraged and continue in the discussion
- Down - Your being disruptive, rude, off-topics, combative, and the conversation is suffering because of you.
Sounds like a more concise description of my same strategy, yeah.
Upvote what I like, ignore what I don’t but it’s presented in good faith, downvote otherwise.
Scandalously
For posts, it comes down to whether or not it fits the community. In /c/UnpopularOpinion, your opinion had better be unpopular. In /c/Funny…well, bad example. 😆
However the mood strikes me. I upvote things that I agree with, enjoy, or otherwise approve of. Downvote mostly jerks, liars, and pictures I don’t like. Most stuff just glides right by.
If there’s a community I want to support I generally go in and upvote every comment on every post. Unless it’s mean, then it gets a downvote or a removal if it’s bad enough and breaks the rules and it’s in a community I mod and have god-like powers in.
I try to upvote anyone that responds to me, even if they disagree with me, or I with them. It feels petty not to.
Upvote:
- I really like what they said
- It feels like “this needs to be seen by more people (or by OP)”
- It’s useful and accurate info relevant to the OP
- It’s basically the comment I was going to write
- The comment replies to me, engaging in positive discussion
Downvote:
- It’s completely irrelevant or inaccurate to the topic at hand
- The comment is needlessly aggressive, especially towards another commenter
- Too many typos, spelling mistakes, emojis, or grammatical errors
- The comment is solely a link to an image
- It’s a duplicate comment (I’ll usually upvote the one with the most upvotes to counteract this one)
- It’s useless (e.g. “This”)
- Too many typos, spelling mistakes, emojis, or grammatical errors
Got it, no writing like a senator on Twitter. Or X, or whatever.
If I see a post and I want to see more posts like that in that community, I updoot. If I want to see less posts like that in that community, I downvote. Nothing more complicated than that.
So if you post a cute cat pic to a community about cats or cute things, I’m updooting it. Not even super concerned with how well I looked that specific pic, I want to see cute cat pics there and you provided one so you get the updoot.
But if I’m in a discussion-based community and you post something with a clickbait title, I downvote. Doesn’t matter if you’re technically still on topic, I want to see less of that nonsense so I downvote it.
- Upvote: I found a post or comment interesting
- Downvote: A post or comment is misleading
- Updoot: The post really bacons
- Downdoot: doot doot doo
Contributes value to Lemmy? Upvote!
Is a troll, propaganda, pointless, or a personal attack? Downvote!
I don’t downvote much. My upvotes vary depending on how drunk I am and what I’m drinking.