I new and still trying to figure all this out. It's a bit confusing. I've found some cool stuff on here I just wonder why people even bother to down vote seems malicious I'm waiting to see if I make friends. I would like to get power so can actually spread the love around. I'm excited to learn.
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People downvote for two reasons.
One is to be malicious, and there are always people who will do take pleasure in the displeasure of others. Hopefully when that does happen, others are willing to stand up to it and add more upvotes to counter the effect of the malicious downvote.
The other is because this is a decentralized platform where there is no central authority. That is, no platform-provided moderators, curators, abuse reporting, etc. The only way people are kept in line at all is by peer review and legitimate criticism in the form of downvotes. Essentially in a decentralized system we the users have to police each other, or those would take advantage (and there are always some people who will) are able to run rampant.
Where it gets complicated is when people don't agree about what is malcious or abusive behavior. Obviously the person being downvoted has an incentive to portray it as abuse, and malicious downvoter has an incentive to portray it as legitimate peer review and criticism. And likewise for non-malicious downvotes and the people getting out of line and getting downvoted as a result.
Still, there is no central authority to decide who or what is right and who or what is wrong. The community just needs to work it out, and if that sounds messy, it is because is it. This frustrates to no end people who want or need a very structured environment where there are clear rules and a well defined sense of right and wrong. On the other hand, others thrive in such a sometimes chaotic and fluid system. It isn't for everyone.