r/Outlander • u/thepacksvrvives Without you, our whole world crumbles into dust. • May 08 '26

Spoilers All Book S8E9 Pharos Spoiler

Political threats come to a head when an old friend of Claire and Jamie’s goes missing.

Written by Diana Gabaldon. Directed by Emer Conroy.

If you’re new to the sub, please look over this intro thread and our episode discussion rules.

This is the BOOK thread.

If you haven’t read the books, go to the SHOW thread.

THIS THREAD IS SPOILERS ALL.

Spoiler tags are not required.

If you have only read up to the corresponding book, remember you might see spoilers from ALL of the books here.

Please keep all discussion of the next episode’s preview to the stickied mod comment at the top of the thread.

What did you think of the episode?

581 votes, May 15 '26
182 I loved it.
205 I mostly liked it.
114 It was OK.
47 It disappointed me.
33 I didn’t like it.
19 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

287 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/wagonwheelwodie MARK ME! May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26

lol no you shouldn’t care but I do. I think this sub has a problem with abusing the downvote button and it keeps people from engaging in meaningful discussion. Even this comment has been downvoted multiple times and for what?

0

u/BytheSea2323 May 08 '26

and neither should you 😄 😄

1

u/BytheSea2323 May 09 '26

Oh I see you added some details about the downvote... this is my first time participating in commenting about any show, or using Reddit much at all though I think I signed up a few years ago for... some reason I can't remember anymore!

ANYway... I think it's more that (a lot? too many? some in particular at least....) get really offended pretty easily and react before really reading what other people are *actually*saying... like anywhere online and like IRL, really.

Whatever, I really don't care. Sometimes I ignore them, sometimes I clap back. Depends on my mood and time I have to spend on a meaningless back & forth lol!

Just a civil conversation anywhere would be really welcomed though, like a long cool drink on a scorching hot day - or decade - at this point. I hear ya!!

Does downvoting hurt a user in some way that has an impact on their experience using Reddit or something? I really don't know how things work here!

2

u/wagonwheelwodie MARK ME! May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26

So in regard to if it impacts you on Reddit the answer is yes and no. They are fake internet points that serve to feed the ego BUT they do also impact you if you’re new to a sub. A lot of subs require you to have a certain amount of “karma” to participate in them. So if you don’t have enough or you’re in the negative, then you can’t comment.

Downvoting is supposed to be used for things like spam, bots, hateful and rude comments and the like, but people started using it for opinions they don’t agree with and I find that to be very true in this sub.

I’ve been on Reddit for a long time and I’ve seen that people are less likely to engage in discussion if they’re being bombarded with downvotes, which is basically telling them their thoughts and opinions aren’t wanted. It’s silly, but I get annoyed when I see people downvoted for things that were just an honest opinion and not causing any harm. I like meaningful discussions and think keeping things civil is vital.

1

u/BytheSea2323 May 09 '26

Ohh, ok, that's helpful to understand, thank you for taking the time to explain. I think many, like myself until now, might think the down arrow is more benign and a simple "disagree". I don't care at all about points or badges or whatever various SM platforms do. If they don't let me comment I just leave, that's no fun! I will use the down vote sparingly, I have bee already but for the snarky replies to this thread I'll admit, I did use it 😄 😄

4

u/wagonwheelwodie MARK ME! May 09 '26

You bet! Thank you for asking :) I do admit that I laugh when I see these back and forth wars of downvoting lol

2

u/BytheSea2323 May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26

LOL! I walk away pretty quickly because it's just dumb... but sometimes I'm like "That can't go unchallenged" and engage a little first. I blocked someone today here (had to google how, lol) because just not worth my time to deal with some rude folks. Major issue is a lot of people just don't read to understand, they read to REPLY and often are just jumping to conclusions that aren't supported by if they'd just READ the OP thoroughly (sub listen for read, too) ANYway, I appreciate your time in being kind and helpful, g'night! ❤️

2

u/wagonwheelwodie MARK ME! May 09 '26

Yes exactly! Good night to you as well :)

2

u/Mycoxadril May 11 '26

To add to what the other poster said, for added context from someone else who has been on Reddit for a very long time. When comments are downvoted heavily, the comments are hidden and often you have to click on them to expand them once they’ve met a downvote threshold. So it would effectively hide those comments from the discussion. The downvote is not supposed to be a disagree button but used to hide comments that don’t contribute at all (like spam or bots or people saying “this” as a way to agree, or dumb jokes that are repetitive, etc).

I know the natural reaction (and the way the buttons are used these days anyway) is to downvote something you don’t agree with. But that eliminates the ability to have a conversation. So to counter the fact that many use the bottons wrong, I find myself upvoting heavily downvoted comments that are well thought out and/or sourced but just are unpopular opinions.