Discussion about dislikes/downvotes on digital participation platforms

Introduction

I'd like to give everyone the opportunity to give input on whether to keep or remove downvotes on our participation platforms. This decision affects how people engage with ideas and each other. 

Downvotes might seem like a small feature, but they can strongly influence how people feel about participating. When someone's idea gets many downvotes, they might feel discouraged and stop sharing their thoughts. On the other hand, downvotes help filter out unhelpful content. Here are a few pros and cons about downvotes as a starter:

Pros of Keeping Downvotes

1. Quality Control - Downvotes help the community point out bad ideas or wrong information. This makes the overall discussion better.
2. Quick Feedback - Users can quickly show they disagree without writing a comment. This saves time and still gives useful feedback.
3. Content Sorting - Downvotes help good ideas rise to the top and less helpful ones move down. This makes it easier for everyone to find the best ideas.

Cons of Removing Downvotes

1. Negative Feelings - Downvotes can hurt people's feelings and make them afraid to share ideas. This goes against our goal of hearing from everyone.
2. Group Pressure - When a comment already has downvotes, others might downvote too without thinking. This creates unfair treatment of some ideas.
3. Unclear Meaning - A downvote doesn't explain why someone disagrees. This doesn't help improve ideas or create meaningful discussion.