Recently…yesterday, I believe…there appeared little up and down arrows at the side of each post allowing you to vote on whether you like or dislike a particular post. On the surface, this might seem like a good idea; but there are two reasons that come to mind immediately for me as to why this is a bad idea. I liked the idea of points [did not like that they were not retroactive…it was not fun starting over like a n00b when the 20 point minimum was suddenly imposed] as it forces you to earn your stripes before posting something more substantial. I very much dislike the voting. The first reason is practical. There is no explanatory post and how it works does not seem altogether clear. It seems that if I write a blog entry, I am getting dinged for every negative vote given in the whole thread. Not cool. Why would I post a diary entry if that were the case? All it takes is one idiot to post a response and, wham, I am losing bunches of points. Or if a thread devolves, the “owner” of the thread bears the brunt of this. I am sure this is correctable, but it seems that this is how it is working at the moment. If this is how it is working, not a good way of doing it. My second and most important reason for disliking the voting, is its anonymity. It is one thing to disagree with or dislike something I have to say and then take the time to stand behind your opinion by posting a reply. Some people can be lightning rods, offering the contrarian opinion. Even if that contrary position is well thought out, a person can be blackballed without anyone having to stand up and own up to their dislike for the opinion. It also lends itself to a mob mentality and clique behaviour. The thought of someone being “punished” for something they say and never knowing who it was who voted against them, and those who give the “thumbs down” never having to own up to their negative opinion strikes me as a fundamentally bad idea. A person should have the right to face their accusers. I think there will also be the popularity vote, that is, the guys who are part of the “in” crowd getting undeserved positive votes. Now, if you were to have positive votes only, in that you could add a “thumbs up” to a particularly good post, I might be in favour of that. But I believe that in the end, the best way to police abusive posters is to report them and if you have a critique you should man up and post it with your name behind it, report it to Brian for follow up and if you won’t do either of those two things, frankly you don’t deserve to have your opinion heard, let alone be give the opportunity to give an anonymous and repercussion free “thumbs down.”