I agree with you. Not too long ago, unoriginal said the same thing.
http://www.mangago.zone/home/mangatopic/1523975/
And as Kyo said, some are accidental cases but some people just love being mean.
I down vote things quite often but I do the same with upvoting. Sometimes I don't agree with something but don't feel the need to comment so I down vote same with agreeing and upvoting. Yes I could ignore the comment, and sometimes I do, but sometimes I dont. I think people take down votes too seriously. I don't do it to be a bully or put someone down nor do I get a kick of it but the button is there so I use it when I feel compelled to do so which just happens to occur often.
Do you thumb up every comment you agree with made about a manga? Even the more inane ones as well? But unlike a a questionnaire where you're actually asked if you agree or disagree with all statements, here you aren't. So while I get your point of not taking down votes too seriously, I still get annoyed that those who disagreed couldn't do me the courtesy of saying why. If they didn't feel strongly enough about it to bother, then they shouldn't down vote a comment. Otherwise it just seems too much like you simply wish for everyone to feel the same way about a manga as you do.
It isn't that I expect that everyone agrees with what I say, or that I always agree with others, but respect a difference of opinion and so might reply without voting at all. To put a situation in the reverse of the norm, would most think it ok if I thumbed down every positive comment about a manga just because I didn't like it?
No I don't upvote every comment I agree with just as I don't downvote every comment I disagree with. Other than voting for agreeing/disagreeing I vote for liking/disliking. I don't belive downvotes need commenting any more than upvotes need them. I treat them the same and view them equally. My down votes and upvotes are directed at the comment not the person making them and I don't always feel the need to explain why I voted that way nor should I have to explain. By downvoting I'm not trying to say I want everyone to agree with me but I simply don't agree with or like the statement being made. I think it'd be petty for one to downvote every comment on a manga they didn't like but that's not one of the reasons I vote.
So it's petty to down vote every comment if you didn't like the manga (with good reasons) but not some comments? I respect that you treat down/up votes the same, but they are not received the same. In the case of thumbs up, you're simply saying you feel the same way, so further clarification isn't really needed. Thumbs down though has a variety of meaning, from that you disagree for whatever reason, to the comment being unacceptable, rude or whatever, and so does need clarification. People do tend, and with some justification online, to believe the worst.
But, would you in person always let everyone know equally when you disagreed with them as much as when you agreed with them? Every time someone expresses an opinion different from yours? Most people don't and for good reason. We have learned that we only disagree with people when we really feel strongly enough about something and then not merely with "Oh boo". The rest of the time we suck it up mentally, respect their right to think what they want, and change the subject if possible.
If someone thinking was thinking, "I don't like this manga so I'm gonna downvote everything." it would be petty as they didn't have a reason to downvote all the comments. In such a situation it would make more sense to give the manga a 1 star rating than to downvote everyone's comment. Like I said though, this is not the case when I downvote things. I don't think the online like/dislike, agree/disagree system is anything like a real world interaction though and I don't treat it the same way. Honestly I have mini debates with my friends over some of the most trivial shit on an almost daily basis so no in real life I don't always disagree/dislike things only if I feel strongly about it.
Anyways I was just giving my perspective as a frequent downvoter since it was lacking in this topic. My point was not everyone is doing it to bully and put down the commenter. Some people may do that but it is not always the case. My opinion is not going to change, I'm going to continue downvoting with or without explanation and I do not belive it is my fault if someone feels personally attacked by my vote. I reprect people's right to have differing of opinions in commenting and also the right to thumbs up and down.
Well, when you compare it to your mini-debates with your friends, don't you normally give a reasons for why you disagree with someone? No matter how silly the subject. I mean try it for a week, going around and simply telling people when you agree or disagree but giving no reasons. I think you'll find that in less than that week you'll get feedback about that annoying 'habit' you've developed. As people we both much more readily give and take agreement without explanation as it is a positive thing, but disagreement we normally need an explanation for so we can at least understand why and make less negative. Being online doesn't make any of this less true.
Just because we don't meet face to face, we shouldn't forget to treat each other as we would the people we do meet in person- with the same polite consideration. And I do not go around and let people know every time I disagree them, and if do tell them I certainly let them know politely why.
I don't treat the voting system or online commenting the same way as a real life interaction. I hardly talk to anyone aside from my friends and family in real life but I have no problem talking with strangers online. I used the mini-debates as an example to say I don't have to feel strongly about something to dislike or disagree with it. Not trying to be disrespectful and I do treat people the way I would expect to be treated even when voting. If anyone disagrees or dislikes anything I comment they can downvote it with or without explaining and I would not take it personally.
Umm, but just because it's online doesn't make it any less a real life interaction. I think that IS what people forget, and my point in comparing what you would do in person. If you would be less disposed to disagree than agree with someone in person, because you instinctively understand how people respond to that, why would that be any less true online? Since you say that this has nothing to do with disrespect, and I believe you, so I don't believe it has anything to do with them being strangers, I can only take it that you believe that human nature changes in general on how we handle negative feedback online vs. 'real life'.
No online interactions are not like real life interactions. There is an exchange of words both but online communication lacks tone, pitch, facial expressions, and other nonverbal cues. When talking face to face to someone there isn't an equivalent of a like/dislike system that is used online. When a topic is presented here there is always the option to or it without requiring you to communicate with words. When in face to face interactions does that always occur? I can say I like something but by saying I like it it's more like replying "I like that too" or "I agree" on a message board. Social anxiety is a thing and some people for a, variety of reasons, honestly do feel more comfortable talking to strangers online than in person because online communication is not the same as a face to face conversation.
Does anyone else feel that sometimes there are some out there who are just a bit too happy to thumb down anything and anybody they disagree with? As if it isn't ok to have a different opinion of a manga as the person who thumbed the comment down. I have seen even the most innocent and positive comments sometimes thumbed down. So I wonder, do some people get a kick out of it?
Personally, I rarely thumb anything down. I only do so when I really think that the comment was out of line, and not merely because I disagreed with it.
So I would really like to know how other people feel about this.