Upvote is mostly if I want better visibility for the post and that is the intended feature even if you do not agree. Sometimes I upvote comments that I like, because comments are not really about that and more about opinion. I do not have downwote option on my instance, nor can I see the down votes which is fine for me.
To me upvote/downvote means approval/disapproval, not necesarily agree/disagree. So I've upvoted different posts and comments with different points of view if they are argumented well for and polite.
I'm pretty similar. I'm probably more generous with upvotes. I'll also downvote:
any link without a description
YouTube links
Twitter reposts (that's usually on reddit, though)
I have to force myself not to downvote anything with anime. I have a visceral dislike for anime, probably a result of the shitty afternoon TV cartoon lineup in the 70s.
I block a LOT of accounts. Anything that looks like ragebait or just arguing in bad faith.
I understand the intent behind downvoting Youtube posts/comments, I did before aswell, but I suggest kindly that you don't.
Some people have set up plugins or extensions to redirect to Piped or Invidious. And it is nice to have the Youtube link to share amongst non tech savy people.
I downvote if it looks like they are posting in bad faith. I'll upvote some comments that I disagree with if the poster was trying to contribute to the conversation -- I usually do that to offset the fact that they've been downvoted a bunch already.
Many of the communities I'm in are fairly small, so I upvote almost every comment that I read. I figure it lets someone know that someone else read what they wrote, and I think that's what a lot of us are here for.
I tend to upvote any display of anyone's creative pursuit if I happen to scroll by it. Even if it's not something I'm into. The marker-on-photo-paper guy whose name escapes me, people's photographs in any of the photography related communities, any of the ink doodles, hand made stuff, or comics posted by their original creators.
We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. The average piece of junk is more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.
Upvote: well written, adds something to the discussion
Downvote: low effort, hurtful or rage bait
I make a point of not using downvotes as an "I disagree" button. If an opinion is presented well, it may still add something to the discussion even if it doesn't match my personal preferences.
Downvotes for spammers, spreading misinformation disinformation and propaganda, know it all comments which starts with" by the way or actually,,etc" in a condescending manner. Also for people targeting one person specifically and trying to to make a offensive sarcastic joke in a way so they don't get banned.
I have a up-vote down-vote pattern for when the scores are low. If I disagree with a child comment, I will down-vote the comment and up-vote the parent comment.
Since every comment automatically gets one up-vote, a parent score of 2, and a child score of 0 shows that the parent comment didn't down-vote the reply comment and they should look elsewhere for who to be mad at.
Up: comment adds to conversation or makes me laugh
Down: comment talks about upvotes/downvotes, is hateful, is blatant misinformation, is just a gif, is completely unrelated to the conversation, is a clickbait video with a clickbait thumbnail
Posts or comments from women: downvote about every second one, randomly.
Posts or comments from black people: downvote every single one, thoroughly, with extra pressure on the button.
Posts or comments from stupid people: sometimes downvote, sometimes upvote, according to my mood swings. Sometimes create an additional lemmy account in order to have a second downvote.
I see the point you are making, or I am interpreting too much into it, but I don't think discussion about subjective, highly variable day-to-day things is useless. Sure, every human is influenced by a lot of factors, but in my opinion there is still something to learn from this. I know I did in less than an hour already.
I typically upvote anything I want to see more of. I down vote posts that I really don't want to see or really wrong info. And no vote if I'm not sure of something or don't care. Most of the time it's no vote.
In smaller communities it helps a tiny bit as an votes are what people see.
I upvote things that I think are interesting, things that make me laugh, and questions where people are seeking feedback. I almost never downvote unless something is hideously stupid / bad info or bad take.
I ignore communities, posts, and comments that have no real thought behind them. This includes those that are just "educated" repetitions of culture-mantras, no matter what "side" or whatever they are on. Unfortunately, this is most of the internet these days.
Because I appreciate thought, I upvote comments that someone activated some brain cells to write. I also upvote those that make me think, teach me something new, or just make me laugh.
I downvote comments that are mean, aggressive, or otherwise demeaning to the person they are replying to - whether that person was me or someone else.
I don't downvote (At least not intentionally, but if I fall asleep while holding my there can be some accidental taps). Even if something seems somewhat offensive to me.
On the other hand, I don't upvote as much as I think I should.
Upvote: helpful information, handy tips that are those little nuggets of gold you mine comments sections hoping to find, actually witty comments instead of oft-repeated Reddit style puns, people who actually put some effort in to their post. Basically: stuff I'd want to see if I stumbled on this thread from a Google search in the future.
Downvote: comments complaining about downvotes, any reference to "tankie" or any other perceived and dismissive stereotype, users who complain about being picked on especially by mods (and usually back it up with some tinfoil fanfic about how they've been tracked by Them), Reddit-isms that were overused there and never worth using here, people who don't source their "fact" especially when accompanied by a comment like "it's easy to find this fact". If it's that easy, you do it.
comment was helpful, insightful, humorous, or provoked good conversation
reply to me that I agree with, appreciate, or disagrees with me in a respectful or thought-provoking way
Downvote:
unprovoked user demonstrates a hostile, combative attitude
comment unrelated to topic/thread
Block:
I recognize user based on downvote behavior in multiple threads or user is particularly egregious in particular: bigotry, demagoguery, sea-lioning, or other deliberate offensiveness.
Im lazy so something has to strike me as particularly good or bad to upvote or downvote. On the bad side im usually looking at the users past comments at that point to see if I should block them. I think in kbin I could subscribe to people and a good one might make me do that figuring it means feeds they were active in would get bumped up. I don't see that option in piefed though.
I don't downvote, I dislike this feature. In theory I upvote when it's funny or interesting, but I don't often think to do it. I try to upvote posts in little communities to say "hey someone saw your post and enjoyed it, please continue to share things!" even if I don't comment.
My account is on an instance that doesn’t implement downvotes, which I wasn’t sure about at first, but have grown to like. For me, it’s either worth an upvote, worth commenting on, or I just move on. It has changed how I engage with Lemmy a bit.
Upvote stuff I like such as positive news, shitposts, windows bad and Linux good posts.
Downvote rarely, only if the post is factually wrong or misleading and I've spent the time to confirm. "Person shreds other person" is a shit headline and unless he hit a 10 point debate combo with a knockout I'd Downvote.
Incorrect spelling of words. *behavior, not behavi our. You are pronouncing the word correctly but spelling it wrong. 'Our' is not the same word as 'or.'
You are mistaken. One is British, the other American English and I am from neither country. Wir können uns in Zukunft auch gerne auf deutsch unterhalten, wenn dir das lieber ist.
Neglectful / high threshold. A post or comment has to be extremely one way or the other for me to click one of those arrows, and as for boosts, basically forget about it, even if they are the right thing for stellar content. I would like to give out more (of all kinds), but never seem to be able to bring myself to do it.
I think seeing a ratio that already looks right might play into it a bit (since I'm on an instance that shows both up and down), but there are plenty of 0/0s that don't get anything from me either.
Getting into the further "why" is deep existential, psychological stuff that's probably well beyond the fluff level of an internet points discussion, and I might not even be able to begin to examine that without the help of a qualified therapist or something.