Why is it not possible to give a "thumbs down"?

Probably to avoid people from getting their feelings hurt and to keep a more positive atmosphere.

pass the hashish and start a new verse of kumbaya, eh?

Lmao ya hey I’m down for that!

I give a good answer rating to answers that are well put and informative, whether I agree with them or not. I’m rating the writing and quality of information given, not the author’s point of view and I think that’s the intent here. If we could give a thumbs down because we don’t agree with someone, this would become more of a debate site than a question/answer site.

Well said @diavolobella. I do the same thing when giving GAs. I like the fact that we don’t have thumbs down. It’s nice to just give people credit for a GA when they have one.

It’s too easy to abuse. My last Q&A site had a ‘thumbs down’ function, and people would use it according to their view of the poster.

Whether in the social or general section, there are questions and answers that are of an opinionated nature. Invariably there will be differing points of views. Whether fact or opinion objective or subjective, opposing voices, including the big thumbs down should be able to be expressed.

(This question invariably meets with a large number of thumbs-down.)

@Nullo And? What’s wrong with dissenting opinions?

@Jeruba glad to have your opinion…

“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism”, Hillary Rodham Clinton

Because everybody in Fluther is so cool!

@palerider. There is nothing here that stops someone from expressing their opinion and many differing opinions are freely expressed. However, the value of an answer is not based on whether or not you agree with it, but whether or not it’s an answer that is well given. The system here stops people from being given a thumbs down because someone else doesn’t share their opinion. We aren’t here to rate each other’s opinions or argue with one another, but to provide answers. I also think there would be potential for people to thumbs down someone just because they don’t like them personally.

This version of the question includes a response from Andrew as well as some community sentiments.

My opinion is solidly opposed.

I agree, but I also agree with @Nullo. People get carried away and put people down. I feel that with this site people can disagree a little more civilized. The idea of passing around weed does sound promising though =D

@Jeruba I really like this question. I had actually been wondering that same question myself.

@palerider Basically, if Person A didn’t like Person B (we had a pretty small userbase at the end, and so knew each other pretty well), he’d downvote all or many of his posts, possibly regardless of content. Others would upvote to counter the downvote.
The whole thing quickly devolved into a popularity contest.

@palerider People make it very obvious in the discussions when they don’t agree with each other, so they really don’t need a thumbs down to do that. If something is so bad that it doesn’t meet the Fluther guidelines, anyone can flag it so that the mods can review it.

@Nullo So by giving GA’s and GQ’s to all your friends (or withholding the same from people you don’t like) here on fluther does not denote a popularity contest, or at the very least nepotism?

@palerider No because there are restrictions on the amount of lurve you can actually give to another person. Once you give another user 100 lurve, any further GQs or GAs will not add to their lurve score and can actually block them from getting additional lurve because of other restrictions in place (like only getting lurve for the 1st 5 GAs on each answer you give, so if the 1st 5 people to give you a GA on an answer have already maxed out on you, you won’t get any lurve for any other GAs on that one particular answer). They specifically put that in so that people wouldn’t game the system and turn it into a popularity contest.

Also, most of the people here will give GAs to people they don’t usually agree with (or like) if they think it is indeed a GA. That’s one of the really nice things about the people on Fluther.

Because it’s additional negativity that isn’t needed.

Being allowed to thumb things down is just troll bait, not to mention that it also discourages a response.

We believe in positive reinforcement, not punishment.

No one’s stopping you from disagreeing with someone’s viewpoint. You just have to do it as a comment, not a thumbs-down. Many GAs/GQs aren’t given meaning “I agree”, they’re given meaning “well written” or “You expressed your viewpoint beautifully, and I understand that side better now” or “You really made me think”. For questions that are less opinion-based, like “will drinking water help cure my hiccups”, a GA can mean “I agree, what this user said”. But if you disagree, it’s helpful not to simply thumbs-down them, but to say “no, drinking water is actually dangerous when you have hiccups, because according to the MayoClinic, it causes blank blank and blank” or “You can, but it doesn’t do anything one way or another”.

Besides, many jellies came here from sites that had thumbs-down and didn’t care for that feature. But if you really want it, I’m sure many a jelly could refer you to an Q&A site with that feature.

Oh my god, I’m a ghost hunting, paranormal fanatic, ufo fanatic, theist, dualist, conspiracy theorist, nonpartisan politically (I take shots at both the left and right) just to mention a few. Dam I’d be in the negatives on here.

Because it would ruin the site.

It would be horribly abused for one thing.

For another, if you disagree, its easy to anonymously click a button but it’s much harder to actually say why you disagree. Fluther encourages you to speak your mind, not press a button.

(This is the same reason why I’m opposed to polls on Fluther).

Coz this ain’t Gladiators! :¬)

No worm cans here!

‘Cuz jellyfish don’t have thumbs, silly.

@cprevite yes, they are very soft and pliable, with sharp little barbs.

Because some people would tell you that your

Why is it not possible to give a “thumbs down”?

question is not a great question, but a thumbs down question.