I hope you didn't get the impression that I thought your opinion was somehow less valuable than someone else's because of the amount of time you've been registered here. I think that's a weak argument and I hate it when people make it.
I look at people's time on the site when they say the community has changed because I want to know if they're contributing or consuming.
This is a community, and it can be reasoned with by anybody, as long as they take the time to try and do it.
I think for the most part, the responses on the threads you linked showed that. Sometimes people will reflexively downvote people because of a perceived slight. I have a feeling that some of the early voting trains get undone as the day goes on.
That being said, I'm sure I've personally contributed a significant amount of noise to conversations here, but if I wanted pure signal I'd probably spend a lot more time on places like LtU. The value of this place is the conversations, far more than the links (in my opinion).
I look at people's time on the site when they say the community has changed because I want to know if they're contributing or consuming.
This is a community, and it can be reasoned with by anybody, as long as they take the time to try and do it.
I think for the most part, the responses on the threads you linked showed that. Sometimes people will reflexively downvote people because of a perceived slight. I have a feeling that some of the early voting trains get undone as the day goes on.
That being said, I'm sure I've personally contributed a significant amount of noise to conversations here, but if I wanted pure signal I'd probably spend a lot more time on places like LtU. The value of this place is the conversations, far more than the links (in my opinion).