I am starting to feel like people read one comment which they reflexively, without much thought, thought was written by an asshole, and then just downvoted all the rest and upvoted everyone else without actually reading the conversation. Which is sad, but to be expected.

I kinda wonder whether there’s a cure. Beehaw certainly feels a lot more genuine, probably because they moderate carefully and disable downvotes. I should probably check it out more closely.