otter , 9 months ago

What I said was that echo chambers still form even without downvotes being an option. Plenty of spaces are echo chambers without downvotes.

I agree that downvotes can amplify an echo chamber. But they also cut down on a lot of toxicity that’s otherwise present when all the controversial / toxic / hurtful comments stay prominently displayed. When that happens, there’s just a cycle of polarization and more people saying controversial and hurtful things.

The benefits of having downvotes outweigh the small amplification of the echo chambers they can cause. However I’m curious to see how it goes on Lemmy. A lot of the places where I’ve seen the above problem were places that prioritized engagement (instagram, twitter, YouTube).