You forgot the most important part: it comes with a cute cat assistant.

How is net any different than people simply not upvoting? Wouldn’t people simply upvote everything else more? Wouldn’t we end up with the same vote rankings just different numbers?

Picture this: you post something that you genuinely enjoy and the second it is posted somebody comes along and downvotes your content because they didn’t like it (not because it didn’t fit the community guidelines). Your content is now in oblivion and you are actively discouraged from posting further in the community. This is what I mean by alienation. It damages diverse opinions in the community.

Is the community better and more democratic that way?

Eliminating downvotes is largely used by highly moderated subreddits (r/conservative for instance). The ones that most accurately fit the definition of echo chambers and who exist to perpetuate an agenda not foster discussion.

I really like this point. I think you bring up an interesting topic about downvotes being a form of expression, and that banning them equates to a loss of freedom.

Engaging every single person is obviously not realistic.

It is not realistic, which is why I am not suggesting that. I would say a better method would be to avoid internet arguments and only engage if you are in a good place to do it constructively. I think niche communities can be the one place where disagreements are not completely futile.

I am very new to this community, and I don’t have much experience with niche internet community dynamics, so I wouldn’t take my words with too much weight; I just like to contribute where I can.

After years of watching the upvote/downvote system play out, I have don’t think downvoting is particularly useful at all. In theory, it allows a community to self-moderate and remove harmful posts. In practice, people use it to downvote things they disagree with and it encourages alienation.

I have had moments where I downvoted something, remembered that this was Lemmy, removed the downvote and wrote a carefully worded response instead, because that is the best way to connect through the internet. Will it work every time? No. Are you a better person for trying? Yes.

It is much more difficult to challenge someone in a healthy manner. This challenging process gets completely avoided by downvoting. One downvote click and any attempt at empathy is gone. But that all depends on whether you want to bother.

Harmful people get banned anyways, so how do downvotes assist that process?

It may be that downvoting prevents people from writing enflamed responses but I’m unsure. My view is that upvotes and downvotes should not be the same as likes and dislikes for the exact echo chamber reasoning in OP. There’s needs to be room for dissonance.

I’m can’t come up with an absolute upper limit but one of the more notable takes I’ve heard recently is ‘no personal ownership of cars.’

Pullback Podcast – Free Public Transit

DKC was a soundtrack with a game attached.

I’m envisioning a public campaign against these companies that pull out when the support becomes disadvantageous. They should be permanently blacklisted by the community and true supportive companies should be rewarded. Just a thought.

The corporate flight from LGBT support is sickening. These events are needed more than ever.

Much love, Stillwater. Save that zesty spirit for when you need it. Keep living up to your name.

Nobody is asking you to like Beato but surely you didn’t join go through the effort of finding a niche community like Lemmy just to shit on things like in every other part of the internet.

What is a good non-pretentious music producer to you? How would you feel if a band you liked turned out to be AI generated? What would it mean for someone to be musically inspired by AI generated music? Give me something.

Spotify is definitely the app that turns 'we’ll pay you in exposure' into a business strategy. What is your preferred method of supporting musicians? Do you buy MP3s or CDs online?

Nice recommendation. It’s less upbeat but I’ll toss in The Dears as one of my favs.