I have seen a few instances remove downvoting, and they seem to run more smoothly. They tend to be more civil.
That’s one of the cases that we need to remember that co-occurrence does not necessarily imply causation. It’s perfectly possible, for example, that the removal of downvotes doesn’t make those instances more civil - but instead that admins seeking more civility try a bunch of stuff out, alongside the removal of downvotes, and something else makes the users in those instances more civil.
To sort this out we’d need some sort of A/B testing.
(Note: this doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re wrong, it’s more like “do we [people in general] know it? I don’t think that we do.”
That’s one of the cases that we need to remember that co-occurrence does not necessarily imply causation. It’s perfectly possible, for example, that the removal of downvotes doesn’t make those instances more civil - but instead that admins seeking more civility try a bunch of stuff out, alongside the removal of downvotes, and something else makes the users in those instances more civil.
To sort this out we’d need some sort of A/B testing.
(Note: this doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re wrong, it’s more like “do we [people in general] know it? I don’t think that we do.”
In all fairness, it doesn’t mean I am right either and that is a fair criticism.