The ability to up- and downvote posts and comments is useful but the score should not be displayed to the users and you shouldn’t be able to enable it even if you wanted to. This means both, posts made by you as well as by others.
Nobody wants to see their messages get downvoted. This is bad for our mental health as individuals but especially as a group. It’s like walking up to a person on the street, saying “I don’t like you” and then moving on. You’re free to not like (downvote) someone but they don’t need to hear it. If you really want them to know then write a message and explain yourself.
Upvotes on the other hand skews the reality and encourages groupthink. People say what is popular even if they don’t fully buy it themselves and conversely refrain from saying things they truly believe because they then dont get the upvotes and get downvoted instead.
Seeing the scores also primes the reader. When something is heavily upvoted for example you assume it to be true/good instead of using your own judgement to decide.
It affects you aswell. We’re social animals and we care what others think of us. You can say it doesn’t affect you but it does. Unless you’re a psychopath ofcourse.
This isn’t about just downvotes either. Seeing the upvotes (or lack there of) is equally damaging. Just look at what platforms like Instagram are doing to the mental health of young girls especially.
I don’t mind disagreement. You can go thru my post history and discover that I don’t shy away from voicing my controversial opinions even when I know it’s going to be unpopular. I’m open to have my mind changed and I welcome all good-faith critizism. Of course I take a little issue with people like you who focus on critizing me instead of what I’m saying (ad hominem) but as long as you’re at least in some way contributing to the discussion I’m happy to hear your opinion.