I've been here a couple of years now and I'm still desperately struggling to understand why people downvote certain things on Reddit. Take for example this post: I took the time to articulate the nature of and reason for my post, provided clear context cues, and overall, the post is well written in a coherent, easy-to-follow prose complete with impeccable grammar and punctuation.
In addition, I provided a thoughtful piece of original, creative writing that is a worthy contribution in and of itself if for nothing other than its comical value alone. If all that wasn't enough, I did all of this for the sake of the betterment of the overall mod community and to increase knowledge and awareness. I would call this post nothing short of "wholesome" whether you like me or not.
In spite of all this, my post is currently sitting with a score of ZERO and a 35% upvote rate. Talk about kicking someone while they're down. I'm already at ZERO, but you just keep clicking that downvote button. How petty can a person be?
This is particularly upsetting because the whole point of my post was to learn whether there is any rule against entering a message that contains profanity into an automated moderation tool. I think that question alone is not only totally relevant, but also a valuable one that deserves to be answered because the answer provides knowledge and guidance that is otherwise undocumented.
I'm sorry, but why do poorly formed questions posted sloppily into the post title with no body to even so much as provide context get 20, 30, or more upvotes, while mine is getting buried into oblivion? Please explain this to me. What is it? I just don't matter to you as a person? I'm just a post on Reddit for you to pick on today and make you feel all big and important? You want to really show me how much you disagree with what I choose to do with my life? Sorry to break it to you, but I have over 38,000 Karma. Downvote all you want. I couldn't care less.
What I do care about, however, is the insidious effect you people have on the overall health of this community and every other one like it. All you're doing by continuing to downvote this post is decreasing the chances of it being seen and answered. Not only is that extremely rude, but it also shows that you don't care about this community. Unlike me, someone who is contributing to it, all you're doing is taking away from it.
I'm a moderator of NSFW subreddits, and whether you like or agree with that or not, I'm here trying to do good things. Maybe if we all embraced each other and lifted each other up in support of a common goal (making Reddit a better place for us all), you wouldn't have so much against NSFW communities in the first place. The reason most NSFW subreddits are run in such a piss-poor fashion is that the moderators lack support and people who disagree with NSFW in general want to stifle them with their downvote button in the hopes that they'll make a run for it in fear of losing their precious Karma.
The "Downvote" (AKA "I don't agree with you so I'm going to kill you with a thousand paper cuts") culture is sickening and toxic, not to mention passive-aggressive. You make posting on Reddit worse than being in an abusive relationship. Stop being a coward and learn to communicate like an adult. Leave a comment stating the nature of your disagreement. Just like every other abuser out there, I feel sorry for you. Your behavior is morally reprehensible and, quite frankly, pathetic. Grow up.