You’re being really thoughtful and this is a good discussion.
I read through all the other comments and I’m disagreeing with a few other viewpoints from others pretending like aggressive downvoting/brigading is an individual’s problem.
Perhaps a feature request to Lemmy could be an option. Rather than a binary choice.
Votes as is, upvotes visible/downvotes not visible but measured, up/down not visible but measured, no downvotes, no votes at all.
Discussion instances could work around what works best for sorting and discussion, general could work what’s best for them etc.
Forums didn’t have upvotes for years and it worked just fine.
In that case, downvotes should be invisible. The sorting algorithm can see them but people can’t.
I don’t believe that tiny communities and instances should have them on until a threshold is reached and they become “sortable”.
Being visible is an aggressive moderation tool. It doesn’t foster discussion. reddit devolved into downvote heavy as time went on and I hated it, most of the time it didn’t make sense why things were downvoted. They work better for memes and pics, not comments (unless they are horrible) and discussions. Bad actors use the downvote for bad acting.
I didn’t downvote you.
I agree but like the premise of the argument is that there is trust issues, a edited reason makes it more trustworthy on a scale rather than nothing. I agree with that usually typos don’t require a reason but reddit? gave you 5? mins before an edited notification was placed on the comment for that reason.
Bad actors are always going to act bad.
I don’t even think downvotes need to exist to counter other aspects of the OP. I would rather a statement as to why this was a bad comment or post so as to make it a learning experience, an educational tool rather than a down arrow that could mean anything. I’ve been downvoted for adding relevant posts to the community I manage. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Was it the content? Someone holding a grudge? What?
It makes sense to me and I’ve been editing comments this way since the early 2000’s. For some, it’s a cultural practice that’s probably decades old.
If the platform didn’t state the comment was edited, I probably wouldn’t bother but if it does, there is always a thought at the back of the reader’s mind about what happened. Leaving a note about editing negates the thought. Leaving pointless edits less so.
I find it more ethical and transparent, particularly in discussion threads where debates are being held.
Unless you pick an instance where the local feed is important to you. It can go either way.