I, too, have a problem with downvotes. Sometimes I am disappointed that I don't get enough of them. If I get at least a few downvotes, I know that people are actually reading. About a month ago, I wrote a semi-parody where I tried to do a phenomenological analysis of a Bazooka Joe comic. Seventeen people voted, and only one downvoted. It is almost offensive, like the other sixteen were just giving me a pat on the back for trying, and the one person who read it and thought What The Fuck?! was the one who was paying attention. Seriously, go and downvote that sucker.
But seriously: upvotes don't do a lot. They don't increase visibility or the chance that something will come up in a search. The only thing that really matters are C!s, and even that doesn't matter. It takes a week for something to scroll off new writeups, so everyone will get a chance to see it anyway.
To be honest, I don't really worry about how users of E2 will view my writeups. I know most of you seem to like me, and anytime I put a minimal effort into a prosaic topic, I can expect lots of imaginary points. Imaginary points I can't do anything with. I can't insulate my attic with those votes. Not that I have an attic. Maybe I could sprinkle upvotes on my carpet and later vacuum them up, leaving a fresh, ozone smell in here? I could use that. It has been a long winter.
But anyway, I am not writing for you. When I imagine my audience, I imagine somewhat who has somehow found this place by going though a search engine whirlpool by clicking on the fifth page of google results and surfaced sputtering in our little pirate cove. What information can they get from my writeup that is not available on an "objective" site like Wikipedia, or is that better formatted than one of the dozens of fandom wikis covered with cruft, or that isn't just someone's microblogging. How can the information I have to go give to people benefit from the conceptual framework of linking we have here? And if I can give somebody something that can be used to increase understanding/appreciation of the world just a little? If I have done that, I have succeeded. If I haven't, then I deserve those downvotes. I mean, I am not a robot, and I also engage in essays and sometimes silliness and white noise posting, and also the cursed thing I am doing right now, writing about E2 on E2. And I understand if that gets downvotes. Because my main idea is: whether this will actually appeal to a general audience, not just people who are into decades worth of circular in-jokes.
So that is my basic take on what is going on here. That being said, there are still eight more pieces of gum in that Bazooka Joe package from December of 2020.