[amalcon]

> YouTube's downvotes, invisible though they now are, can at least influence the recommender algorithm.

YouTube's algorithm is opaque, so obviously folks could be wrong about this -- but there's a pretty common belief that dislikes actually cause a video to be recommended more often, making it not really that much of a disapproving glare. Same with the Facebook frown, except that FB is pretty open about it.

People think a lot of obviously wrong things about various social media algorithms, and this might be one of them, but in a way that's beside the point. The belief is sufficient to negate the social pressure effect, regardless of how well founded that belief is.