Wat. I mean, not all comments but there are many many times where it does. Misinformation/disinformation, general toxicity, or just being completely off-topic. These types of comments can destroy a community if left unchecked.
Misinformation should be handled by moderation.
Toxicity should be ignored because recognizing it gives it power.
Off topic comments can easily be collapsed (or maybe there should be a method to mark them as off-topic by moderators) and off topic posts should be removed.
That’s a lot to put on the moderators, not to mention it provides a way for the community to help decide what content does not belong. Moderators are far from infallible and can’t read every single comment. Downvotes help clue mods into what they should look over.
Wat. I mean, not all comments but there are many many times where it does. Misinformation/disinformation, general toxicity, or just being completely off-topic. These types of comments can destroy a community if left unchecked.
Misinformation should be handled by moderation. Toxicity should be ignored because recognizing it gives it power. Off topic comments can easily be collapsed (or maybe there should be a method to mark them as off-topic by moderators) and off topic posts should be removed.
We don’t live in your world of shoulds and unto the human race can grow up and not be awful to each other you can’t just rely on mods.
Finally, mods do this work for free, and if they want no downvotes, the instances exist.
That’s a lot to put on the moderators, not to mention it provides a way for the community to help decide what content does not belong. Moderators are far from infallible and can’t read every single comment. Downvotes help clue mods into what they should look over.