by MasterHMH » June 16th, 2009, 1:22 pm
[quote="BillionSix"][quote="MasterHMH"]I don't have a problem using the "against" button at all. If a file interests me, because I may have fun using it or because it may be worthwhile to me, I will support it. Otherwise, I vote against it. That's basic democracy. Only so many files get made, so it makes equal sense to bolster the statistics of files you want and to detract from those you have no use for. It isn't malicious in any way; it is just an attempt from the voter to get the most he or she can out of a system that is ultimately designed to benefit them.[/quote]
I am going to go ahead and disagree with you.
To me, the word "against" means, well... against. Let's say someone has a jam fetish, and creates an entry that involves having a vivid dream about strawberry jam. Not my thing, but to each his own.
Now, you come along and say, "Not my thing," and click "against."
"Why did you click against? Are you morally opposed to strawberry jam?"
"No, but it's not my thing."
"Are you allergic? Are you afraid that allergic people might listen and have psychosomatic allergy attacks?"
"No, don't be silly."
My point is, I only click against, if I am totally against it. If I think it is dangerous or criminal.
I have no idea why someone would want to be a sycophantic banker, but hey, peoples' fantasies are often very specific, and if someone out there is bored enough to make it, good for them. I am not going to rain on their parade.
When I go to the voting page, the vast majority of the entries are unclicked, because I have no interest in them one way or the other.
When I see a lot of "Against" votes on something I posted, I wonder why. "Why are they opposed to this? It's harmless!"[/quote]
Well, all you are really arguing here is semantics. It doesn't really matter what the terms used are, the fact of the matter is: if rising your desires higher in the "ranking" theoretically increases their chances of coming to fruition, then there is no reason not to downvote files that you don't care to see made one way or the other.
You see voting against as a more serious action than I believe you should. You aren't "raining on someone's parade" or denouncing their fetish, you are simply saying that it is not your fetish, and thus you would rather have something that directly appeals to you made. However, as I postured earlier, it's basically an irrelevant practice, so I do not understand why so much discussion is to be had on it.
In light of all this attention, maybe we should just change the semantics of the voting page; since "for" and "against" are apparently loaded words, why not make it a question of "Would you want this file to be made?" Offer "Yes" and "No," and then everyone can be happy, considering that the vast majority of the voters tend to read it that way. It may also make some people more comfortable with voting in general, and perhaps we will get more input that way.