I think that the -1 button definitely has a place on Github.
I use Github a lot for discussing future feature development, and in that context it is really valuable to see how many people think a feature is useful or not.
Github isn't primarily a social network. In a professional context it is essential that you can also express disagreement, or that you think something is a bad idea.
In a professional context it is essential that people can express disagreement provided they write exact reasons why they disagree.
You know, "+1" usually has only one meaning:
- "I agree with whatever you're saying".
"-1" has however two separate meanings:
- "I disagree with whatever you're saying because I believe that blah-blah-blah (reasons here)"
- "I disagree with whatever you're saying because fuck you that's why"
And "-1" button doesn't distinguish between those two cases.
- Agreement: "I agree with whatever you're saying"
- Contributory : "I don't agree with what you're saying, but you elaborated your point *very* well and contributed to the discussion"
- Mercy: "I don't agree with what you're saying, but the hivemind punished you for no good reason, have an upvote"
- Popularity: "I like you and will +1 anything you write"
- Thanks: "I like what you did even if this post isn't relevant"
The second and third one are very common on sites like HN, certain places on Reddit, and Stack*
Downvotes have:
- Disagreement: "I disagree with what you're saying"
- Anger: "Fuck you, have a downvote"
- Doesn't contribute: "I might agree, but you're not helping the discussion"
- Incorrect: "This isn't about agreement, your advice is wrong and/or harmful"
I like this idea, even having preset tags ala slashdot.
Always maintained that this would make Reddit a much nicer place. Implement the vote tags, and then give people the ability to sort by votes, filtering out votes for disagreement.
If somebody gives your comment a -1 without a reason, and you are of the opinion that disagreement is only valid given a precise argument - can't you just ignore the -1's?
I'm not sure why this is such an emotional topic. Maybe I just have thick skin, but some random stranger on the internet giving me a down vote is not really even going to give me a moment of pause. Let alone so much that I feel that I have to demand rationalization from every person that cares to disagree with me.
I use Github a lot for discussing future feature development, and in that context it is really valuable to see how many people think a feature is useful or not.
Github isn't primarily a social network. In a professional context it is essential that you can also express disagreement, or that you think something is a bad idea.