Edit: This isn’t a complaint; just an observation.

Totally random thought, but I see so many people wandering around down voting regular posts that are pretty benign. I also see this a lot on another message board that I’m on.

Disagreeing with people is totally fine, and down voting them as a form of disagreeing makes total sense. But with the nature of some of the posts, down voting just seems completely pointless, so I’m wondering if it’s just trolls going around being negative. 

I’m going to preemptively down vote this post. 

  • SGforce@lemmy.ca
    6·
    2 months ago

    Some people do it to boost their own post by extension. ie: they post, upvote theirs with alt accounts, downvote all others.

  • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
    52·
    2 months ago

    Sometimes I write something I know will be controversial. Sometimes I write something I’m surprised is controversial, but I see it from a different angle and I understand. Sometimes I’m just flat wrong and the downvotes teach me something.

    And then sometimes I write something so benign that I assume any downvotes are coming from people so angry about the controversial thing I wrote that they clicked on my profile and downvoted something else to vent their frustration.

    • loaf@sh.itjust.worksOPMEnglish
      71·
      2 months ago

      I wanted to keep the downvoting theme going and downvote you because it’s funny, but I can’t make myself do it.

      But yeah, I get what you’re saying. Oddly enough, I’ve seen downvotes on random things like pictures of someone’s dog, or something like that. It’s like, who can downvote an adorable dog? 

    • TriflingToad@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      18 days ago

      I agree on the entire first paragraph but would like to add

      • sometimes I’m downvoted and I still stand by my statement and don’t see why it’s controversial

      It’s only happened once or twice as I’m usually pretty agreeable, but I just… dont understand…

      (for context, this is a post of a comic that spelled “at least” as “atleast”)

      Like we have abbreviations such as ‘lmao’ and ‘lol’ being used EVERYWHERE, even in formal settings, but removing a space when two words are said close together Is too much? Like you’ll use “alright” (all right) “already” (all ready) “nonetheless” (none the less)
      Hell, the word “goodbye” actually is an abbreviation of, get this, “GOD BE WITH YE” but “atleast” is too much?? I don’t understand.

      • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
        2·
        18 days ago

        I think in this case, you’re witnessing the forces that shape the evolution of language. There are competing influences from wanting to be correct so that you are understood, and wanting to be convenient and flexible. People will resist change, because they have learned how to communicate and they would like others to follow the same conventions. Spelling and grammar drift, but a certain amount of rigidity is required to maintain the flow of ideas.

        If a change is so convenient and easily understood that it spreads faster than the resistance can stomp it out, then the evolution may go entirely unnoticed. Consider the hyphen. Practically all of the previously-held rules about hyphen usage have gone the way of the dodo. Or you can start a sentence with a conjunction. You can even end a sentence with a preposition if that’s what you’re going for.

        On the other hand, some people feel that spelling and grammatical errors are evidence of a lack of education. Some people like to feel superior by making other people feel stupid. Catching a mistake is like a trump card, especially when found during an argument.

        In your example, I don’t think “atleast” is significantly more convenient than “at least.” It seems to me that it is more likely a typo than a deliberate conjunction or sincere misspelling. Contrast “atleast” with “alot,” where the latter is frequently used by people who actually believe “alot” is one word. And guess what? Much to the chagrin of Ms. Brosh, the word “alot” has been used frequently enough to become a word that is defined as “a common misspelling of ‘a lot.’”

        So while I agree with your comment that language changes over time, and I think the comment calling the use of “atleast” a “Fail” is petty, I also don’t expect that particular change to catch. As evidenced by your vote ratio, there are more people who don’t like the change than there are people who will use it.