I’m not sure if Lemmy collapses heavily downvoted posts like Reddit does, but if it does it is also playing a part in creating an echo chamber.
I personally don’t have a very strong opinion about up-/downvotes but in general I try to stick to only downvoting comments that are not contributing or down right hostile. I refuse to downvote a comment that is attempting to discuss something in a proper manner, even if I completely disagree.
I get your point about it being harder to agree than disagreeing with this type of mindset though, so it’s not perfect.
For me it’s been the stability of our sever.
It’s run by a private person on nothing but goodwill and interest, which I was afraid would only last a few months. He (and the other admins) have done an incredible job keeping things running smoothly and with a very level headed approach to content filtering and general rules.
You all deserve a massive round of applause from all of us benefitting with zero work.