Workshop Dislike Button: A Harmful and Manipulative System

[FirePrince]

I'm convinced the dislike button on the Workshop is actively detrimental. It's not a constructive feedback tool; it's a weaponized button that manipulates mod rankings and discourages creators. Instead of fostering a healthy community, it promotes negativity and unfairly impacts visibility. The current system allows for abuse and doesn't accurately reflect the quality of mods. It needs to be reworked or removed entirely. It's doing far more harm than good.

I've created a lot of workshop items. I know what I'm talking about, and I know many other modders don't like this downvote practice. If you dislike a mod just once in the current week's rankings, its ranking drops several places. It's completely absurd.

Sometimes people don't care about the content, maybe just don't like the thumbnail (e.g. AI generated, manga or whatsoever) or just don't like the author (I know authors who always got a lot of downvotes just because of his person).
People don't understand that it's just a patch or an update, people don't read.

For example, my last mod was just a simple vanilla fix patch, and gets downvoted in the first 2h.
Maybe downvoting should be just possible if you give a comment.

[A-Sartek]

That is also the way I feel about my animated Minotaur species mod, even static portraits have more than 3 stars... Well there has been some really supportive comments and individuals but that dislike button is certainly annoying, also I do not think anything would be solved if they can add a negative rating after commenting, it is probably not going to be constructive and it would incentivize trolling.

[HikariLight]

Trolls will be trolls.
There are people who down vote things simply because they can.
The down vote also can be used for valid reasons too.
Many people will do more research on something with down votes to find out WHY and to see if it was due to valid reasons.
These are not echo chambers to get only those who agree with you, people are also free to say they don't like your stuff.

[TBS AlexDK]

Maybe there are just a lot of people who don't agree with your view of the mod/s

[A-Sartek]

Początkowo opublikowane przez HikariLight:

Trolls will be trolls.
There are people who down vote things simply because they can.
The down vote also can be used for valid reasons too.
Many people will do more research on something with down votes to find out WHY and to see if it was due to valid reasons.
These are not echo chambers to get only those who agree with you, people are also free to say they don't like your stuff.

I'm open to constructive feedback, so of course I don't want an echo chamber, the Internet already has a lot of those as is. But nope, there is not a single negative comment, not even something subjective.

I guess they are also free not to leave any comments but I have a feeling I can't completely ignore them because then I'd be doing the same as them? Yea really weird feeling.

[☄️⁧⁧Sneakydude555]

I would disagree with this. This is why the Youtube dislike button was apparently "removed" due to what you said similarly here.

Even with the downvote gone, People will find a way to downvote anything thats why the Twitter "Ratio" exists. Its how the internet is and has been for a while. What changed here is the political witch hunt that has been changing the cultural landscape in the industry these days.

If people are harassing and being unhinged in your Profile comments, i would just block them and move on, if they keep coming back like ♥♥♥♥ roaches private your profile and take a break for a while.

Or just use the Steam censorship word filter. Twitter has something similar to this. I dont want the internet to be more dead in the future than it is already right now.

I can not watch any YT videos without looking at the dislikes and the comments. If YouTube removed the comment section entirely YouTube will just be unusable more than the removed Dislikes.

They're already starting with that by shadow banning and deleting your comments that has "harmful" words.

I have no issue with creators/individuals removing unhinged non constructive criticism. But when a company forces Censorship filter on everyone, then internet is not really fun to use anymore compared to back then.

[matt]

You've got almost 400 awards received, and you're upset that someone gave you a thumbs down? I worry about the mental health of kids today. Maybe there should be a crisis line for people who get downvoted.

Be like Nicholas Cage!

[HikariLight]

Początkowo opublikowane przez matt:

You've got almost 400 awards received, and you're upset that someone gave you a thumbs down? I worry about the mental health of kids today. Maybe there should be a crisis line for people who get downvoted.

Be like Nicholas Cage!

Social media has made people to ingrained in wanting likes and then being able to hate on those who dislike something.

[FirePrince]

To the last 2 comments: you missed the topic (I said DISLIKE not LIKE) you guys just rather attacked the TS reflexively and got irrational personal. Then my answer to you is just: this forum is pointless and a complete mess, these are special people who spend a long time here.

Yes, I've got a lot of likes and awards, so I don't really care about more, but this is completely not the point here.
It is a fundamental question for this system, which usually requires somewhat more sophisticated minds.

A mod is not a YT vid, it's more like a YT chan, it makes no sense to dislike a chan.
Even more when you get something for free. Likes, subs and comments should be really enough indication.

I think in these times, it's easier and more effective to just ask ChatGPT... just for comparison. :P

Here the answer:
### **The Nature of Feedback: Expression vs. Contribution**
Feedback—whether positive or negative—is, at its core, an expression of perception. The problem is that not all perception is equal in terms of insight, understanding, or fairness. If a person dislikes something but lacks the ability to articulate why—or worse, dislikes it out of bias, ignorance, or personal negativity—does their feedback have value?

In principle, democratic systems of evaluation (like upvotes and downvotes) assume that all feedback is equally valid because they operate on raw preference, not expertise. But should they? A chef and someone who eats only fast food will rate a gourmet dish very differently. If the system allows uninformed negativity to shape perception, it risks rewarding mediocrity and punishing innovation.

### **Is Non-Constructive Negativity Ever Justifiable?**
Non-constructive negative feedback does not guide improvement; it only expresses dissatisfaction. If a person cannot or will not explain why something is bad, what is the value of their disapproval? It might stem from:

- Personal frustration (unrelated to the content itself)
- Bias or resistance to change
- A desire to sabotage, rather than critique
- A simple lack of comprehension

If someone is truly uninformed or incapable of assessing the subject, their negative feedback is not just unhelpful—it’s misleading. It's like allowing people who can’t read to review literature.

### **The Problem of Negative People vs. Negative Criticism**
Now, here's a deeper layer: are these people simply negative in general? Are they expressing something about the content, or just reflecting their own negativity onto the world? If someone is habitually negative, their criticism isn't about the subject at all—it’s about them. The dislike button, in that case, becomes a tool of personal projection rather than meaningful evaluation.

### **Should All Feedback Be Weighted by Competence?**
Imagine a system where negative feedback had to be justified or where only those with proven understanding could rate certain things. Would that lead to better results, or would it create an echo chamber where only the "elite" could voice opinions? Philosophically, this is the tension between **meritocracy and open participation**—should all voices be equal, or should informed voices count more?

### **Conclusion: The Ethics of Feedback**
A fair system would:
1. Encourage constructive criticism over simple negativity.
2. Filter out bad-faith or uninformed feedback.
3. Acknowledge that while everyone has the right to an opinion, not all opinions carry the same weight in specialized areas.

Uninformed negativity is not just unhelpful—it’s damaging. It can kill creativity, discourage innovation, and mislead others. The question is: should we accept it as an inevitable part of open systems, or should we push for a better way to evaluate quality?

Imagine a system where:
Feedback is a dialogue, not just a dagger. Downvotes come with constructive comment, fostering growth rather than resentment. Or perhaps a revamp that weighs engagement and positive interactions more heavily, ensuring quality content rises to the top.

[HereIsPlenty]

I agreed with your original points about the modding environment but dude, using ChatGPT to "discuss" on a Steam thread? Seriously no, just no.

[FirePrince]

Sorry ;-) It's a tool, we live in new times.

[Mailer]

Początkowo opublikowane przez A-Sartek:

That is also the way I feel about my animated Minotaur species mod, even static portraits have more than 3 stars... Well there has been some really supportive comments and individuals but that dislike button is certainly annoying, also I do not think anything would be solved if they can add a negative rating after commenting, it is probably not going to be constructive and it would incentivize trolling.

Stars are given to workshop items on a confidence basis; as in, you need a certain number of votes to even be eligible for higher star ratings to begin with. Pretty much every single workshop item starts at either 3 or 4 stars. I have personally never seen a workshop item drop below 3 stars.

My advice is to not read into star ratings as a gauge for negative votes, since it is not a 1:1 proportional of positive/negative votes in the first place; in fact I'm pretty sure as the author of a workshop item you can see clear statistics of the ratings you have gotten over time. If there is a place to suspect foul play then it is in those statistics.