Thumbs are back

Or at least unjustified. It seems to me that when not given an option to otherwise show disagreement/disapproval (especially of comments that are blatantly rude, crude or unhelpful) we get side threads with multiple responders basically saying the same thing in response to an initial statement, followed by long back-and-fourths that are heavy on vituperation and short on rational discourse. At the same time, some people who might have something sincere and substantial to add may be reluctant to get drawn into this sort of thing. Result = longer, angrier, wandering threads with fewer overall partipants.

In contrast, it may be that a comment with a big number of downthumbs rather “speaks for itself”, and people are more inclined to simply then abandon the comment, rather than extend it into its own side thread. When smart filtering (eg Slashdot et al) or registered-only voting (disqus et al) options are available, flame wars seem even less common. Result = more focused, less-distracted threads with broader participation.

Of course, the above is supposition as well, based on my own experience on this forum and others. I looked briefly for solid looking research, but found little. I would welcome good citations that supported either viewpoint.