You’ve no doubt seen a million websites that have Like buttons. When you find content you like, and you’re logged in, you can register your approval by Liking it. Facebook does it, YouTube changed from a point system to a Like/Dislike system, Google Reader has it, Reddit has an upvote/downvote system, and any other countless number of news sites and blogs do too.
As sites like Facebook don’t have Dislike buttons, many people worry that they’re restricted in their ability to properly categorise content.
But we need a better way of categorising or approving and disapproving of content. The Like/Dislike options aren’t always appropriate, and they’re not always appropriate because everyone will use them differently. This was recently discussed on Reddit (but I can’t find the link), and just shows that everybody uses their votes in different ways. Some, of course, maliciously, but most simply have different perceptions of up- and downvoting.
For instance, some downvote a comment simply if they disagree with it. Some will upvote if they disagree with it, but the comment leads insight, or contributes to the conversation in a useful or constructive way. Not that any of those are right or wrong — they’re just different. And with enough of a community, most things should balance out anyway. And that’s fine for comments on articles.
However, what about the articles themselves. When I see an article from BBC on Google Reader about how Catholic priests have been getting away with raping young boys for decades, how am I supposed to respond? If I Like the article, am I trying to indicate that I approve of the molestation of children, or am I indicating that I think this article should be read by as many people as possible?
It’s a bit easier when it’s news on a new fancy gadget that’s coming out. That’s a no brainer — I either like it or I don’t. But the matter can be complicated if the article is badly written, has no insight, is full of grammatical errors, or is just a lazy article. How do I cast my vote so that others can save their time on reading it? If I downvote a badly written article about an Apple gadget, then the Fanbois will assume that all the downvotes are because of ire toward their beloved vendor. If I upvote that badly written article, am I giving the author the impression he or she did a good job?
It’s too easy to give the wrong impression with the Like/Dislike rating system. It’s just too weak and doesn’t even scratch the surface of the nuances of human opinion.
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