If an upvote is an “I like this” button, then it’s bad UX design to expect people to not use the downvote as an “I don’t like this button.” If there needs to be an “off topic” button then it shouldn’t be styled and placed to look like the exact opposite of the “I like this” button.
But an upvote doesn’t mean “I like this”. It means you judge the post/comment to be high quality. There’s a correlation for sure, but quality is a holistic judgement based on context. It measured by the same spectrums as downvoting: to what extent is the post/comment relevant, original, funny, entertaining, informative, rule-abiding, respectful, etc. We don’t need separate buttons for all of these, the voting buttons just wear many hats. You’re generally going to think more highly of stuff you agree with or that makes you happy, but accurate bad news and unpopular opinions can still succeed score-wise despite these disadvantages.
If an upvote is an “I like this” button, then it’s bad UX design to expect people to not use the downvote as an “I don’t like this button.” If there needs to be an “off topic” button then it shouldn’t be styled and placed to look like the exact opposite of the “I like this” button.
But an upvote doesn’t mean “I like this”. It means you judge the post/comment to be high quality. There’s a correlation for sure, but quality is a holistic judgement based on context. It measured by the same spectrums as downvoting: to what extent is the post/comment relevant, original, funny, entertaining, informative, rule-abiding, respectful, etc. We don’t need separate buttons for all of these, the voting buttons just wear many hats. You’re generally going to think more highly of stuff you agree with or that makes you happy, but accurate bad news and unpopular opinions can still succeed score-wise despite these disadvantages.