I find the interpretation scheme “net downvotes mean more people want less content like this than want more content like this; net upvotes mean the reverse” to be fairly unambiguous.
Sure, it would be nice to have an equally unambiguous indicator of something I care about more (like, for example, the objective wrongness of a statement). Reputation systems aren’t that. Anyone who believes they are, is mistaken. Anyone who expects them to act as though they were and pays attention will be disappointed.
There are millions of other things that would be nice to have that reputation systems aren’t, also.
I find the interpretation scheme “net downvotes mean more people want less content like this than want more content like this; net upvotes mean the reverse” to be fairly unambiguous.
Sure, it would be nice to have an equally unambiguous indicator of something I care about more (like, for example, the objective wrongness of a statement). Reputation systems aren’t that. Anyone who believes they are, is mistaken. Anyone who expects them to act as though they were and pays attention will be disappointed.
There are millions of other things that would be nice to have that reputation systems aren’t, also.