I try to reserve downvotes for bad faith commenters, though I downvoted some of the ai generated jeans spammers too when that started to get real old.

• Up - I want you to be encouraged and continue in the discussion
• Down - Your being disruptive, rude, off-topics, combative, and the conversation is suffering because of you.

Memes: upvote if I find it funny

Text posts:

• upvote if agree
• do nothing if disagree, but the post is valid
• downvote if OP is trolling, or rude, or otherwise makes me uncomfortable

But, there are exceptions

Upvote if it contributed to the discussion, whether I agree or disagree, whether serious or humorous.

Downvote if it's off-topic, misinformation, belligerent, or a link to a video without a text summary. Downvote if the user did not respond cogently to the comment or post. Downvote bad advice, and bigotry, and anyone who miscorrects "octopusses" to "octopi".

No vote if the comment is banal or I can't understand the point they're trying to make.

I only downvote when someone is being an unreasonable asshole. It's ok to have a different opinion and state it respectfully. Otherwise I sprinkle updoots like fairy dust.

Somebody replies to a thread I made? - up vote.
Somebody replies to a comment I made? - up vote.
Somebody makes a post interesting enough for me to comment? Up vote + all other comments upvoted.

Ignorance or bad info? Downvote.

Contributes value to Lemmy? Upvote!

Is a troll, propaganda, pointless, or a personal attack? Downvote!

Upvote what I like, ignore what I don't but it's presented in good faith, downvote otherwise.

for posts:

• is spam? downvote. report if I am not on the best of days.
• is the post trying to follow the "let's be awesome to each other" tenet? upvote.

for comments:

• do I agree or like it? no bearing.
• does it relate to the post, or expands on the info and encourages dialog? upvote.

Parallel to the join-lemmy.org documentation (see below) I upvote what I want to see more of, and downvote what I want to see less of.

"You can upvote posts that you like so that more users will see them. Or downvote posts so that they are less likely to be seen." ~ https://join-lemmy.org/docs/users/03-votes-and-ranking.html

However the mood strikes me. I upvote things that I agree with, enjoy, or otherwise approve of. Downvote mostly jerks, liars, and pictures I don't like. Most stuff just glides right by.

Upvote:

• I really like what they said
• It feels like "this needs to be seen by more people (or by OP)"
• It's useful and accurate info relevant to the OP
• It's basically the comment I was going to write
• The comment replies to me, engaging in positive discussion

Downvote:

• It's completely irrelevant or inaccurate to the topic at hand
• The comment is needlessly aggressive, especially towards another commenter
• Too many typos, spelling mistakes, emojis, or grammatical errors
• The comment is solely a link to an image
• It's a duplicate comment (I'll usually upvote the one with the most upvotes to counteract this one)
• It's useless (e.g. "This")

Scandalously

For posts, it comes down to whether or not it fits the community. In /c/UnpopularOpinion, your opinion had better be unpopular. In /c/Funny....well, bad example. 😆

If I see a post and I want to see more posts like that in that community, I updoot. If I want to see less posts like that in that community, I downvote. Nothing more complicated than that.

So if you post a cute cat pic to a community about cats or cute things, I'm updooting it. Not even super concerned with how well I looked that specific pic, I want to see cute cat pics there and you provided one so you get the updoot.

But if I'm in a discussion-based community and you post something with a clickbait title, I downvote. Doesn't matter if you're technically still on topic, I want to see less of that nonsense so I downvote it.

If there's a community I want to support I generally go in and upvote every comment on every post. Unless it's mean, then it gets a downvote or a removal if it's bad enough and breaks the rules and it's in a community I mod and have god-like powers in.

I try to upvote anyone that responds to me, even if they disagree with me, or I with them. It feels petty not to.

I don't downvote much. My upvotes vary depending on how drunk I am and what I'm drinking.

I upvote posts I find useful or helpful and downvote spam or abusive posts. If I dont like something I just dont engage with it.

I upvote when a post is helpful, funny, entertaining, or if I just want to let the poster know that their post was acknowledged . I rarely downvote, mostly reserved for trolls and unprovoked rudeness.

• Upvote: I found a post or comment interesting
• Downvote: A post or comment is misleading
• Updoot: The post really bacons
• Downdoot: doot doot doo

I only upvote things that makes me laugh. I don't upvote very often.

I try not to use downvotes unless someone expresses a truly gross point of view or outright says something that is wrong / counterfactual. I upvote the ones that stand out as useful / informative / funny / insightful for comments. I upvote most posts if I enjoy seeing them and any that are requests for information.

lemmy isnt reddit - the up/down votes dont do much except indicate a number.

I upvoted anything and downvote nude

Upvote: I agree
Downvote: I disagree
No vote: 50:50 agree

Edit: Seems lile many do not agree with my philosophy :)