Downvotes are Hurtful

Someone recently down-voted one of my posts, which seemed pretty mean.  Why not abolish downvotes altogether?  If someone doesn't like a comment or post, they can simply refrain from upvoting.

I disagree, if you're going to post something then you're generally asking for people to comment on their personal opinions, or comment on your opinion. And if someone is objectively wrong, or is trolling or anything then downvoting is pretty much necessary so others know that the post is not worth looking at.

It's only a downvote, no need to stress so much over it. Also I'm not sure but a moderator had said that when a post receives more downvotes then it helps them to detect the post faster and take it down but I'm not sure whether that is true.

What about thumbdowns etc?

You can't like or dislike forum posts on the app. Wasn't aware you could on the site as it doesn't show on the app. Maybe use the app and you won't see the up or downvotes.

Some people abuse the up- and downvote system. Some people purposely upvote spamming or trollung comments (Maybe a person upvoted their own post with a second account?), some people purposely downvote with the hateful intention to make the person feel bad. And some (The majority) just want to show their opinion.

I personally use the 👍 / 👎 reactions to express my opinion. I also use the 👍 to show that I understood or read someone’s post. I up- and downvote most of the time depending on the quality, relevance, accuracy and intentions of the post, but not because I agree or disagree with them. Therefore I don’t really downvote people to make them feel bad.

Sometimes, I even invite people to share their opinions on my post by asking a question („Do you agree with me?“) at the end of my post and react with a 👍👎 myself. Since I don’t want to support my own posts, I use both reactions to keep it one-to-one with the "score".

I remember I shared my results- and performance predictions of the FIDE Candidates 2026 and did exactly this. I got quite a lot of upvotes and thumbs up, but then there was one person who downvoted my comment AND used the thumbs down-reaction. Was it hurtful? Yes, a little bit maybe. But it only really matters to me when the number of my comment goes into the negative-section. Was my comment inaccurate, irrelevant or poorly written? Certainly not. Did this person who downvoted me meant to offend me or hate? I’ll never know, but using both the downvote and the thumbs down wasn’t necessary for sure. Don’t get me wrong, I am not mad about it, but using the thumbs down already expresses your opinion.

Still, it’s a personal choice on how you react to a comment and as long as you don’t mean to hurt anybody with your opinion (For both the writer and the reader), you should be allowed to express your opinion. So referring to what you said: Yes, it can be hurtful to get downvoted, but everyone has the right to express their opinions and the writer should always be aware that people will read it and have a opinion on their post. Also keep in mind that everyone has different values on how much and often they up- and downvote certain comments. Some might be highly positive and if you would comment for example: „Well written!“ on their blog, they might upvote your comment and use the heart-reaction on your comment. They might also respond and thank you for your kind words. Others might be more critical and downvote and report a lot of spamming comments and constantly chase abusers to keep everything save. We must assume that nobody has bad intentions, even though these both examples have some mayor differences.

Stay positive!