Downvotes have a very important function. They are meant to suppress irrelevant discussion, trolls, and hate.

The problem is people on reddit stopped following reddiquette many years ago, and they became dis/agree buttons.

But if there is an off-topic post and there’s no downvotes possible, that irrelevant content cannot be properly suppressed by downvotes, and is more likely to rise.

This causes the boundaries/purpose of a specific community to become muddied. I can’t tell you haw many subreddits I saw devolve into nothing but shitposting memes. Not having downvotes just makes that problem much worse.

Downvotes are important for the site to function properly. Even right here, idiots are downvoting you simply because you have a dissenting opinion. It is not a disagreement button. I upvoted your comment even tho I wholeheartedly disagree, because you are contributing healthy discourse.

And for the people in instances like yours who I see saying how refreshing it is to be able to comment without fear of downvotes, you’re being too sensitive… It’s imaginary internet points. That should never be the basis for your self-worth and self-confidence. That’s only going to make your shell even more fragile. Hypersensitivity isn’t healthy. It’s okay to disagree with each other.