What does a thumbs up mean, though? In a netflix context, am i recommending it to others? Trying to train the recommendation for my own taste? Making sure i rewatch it if I don't remember watching it the first time? What do I do if i like a movie but it's objectively terrible? All of the above questions weigh heavily, and the end result is I just avoid binary voting systems (including voting on hn) and it becomes feature bloat with little use.

Strangely, it gets even harder with the thumbs down—there are vanishingly few things i actively wish didn't exist. Why downvote at all?

If I see an approve/disapprove button, I try to click it if it's for something I've chosen to consume (watch, buy, visit, etc). If it's a decision I'm glad I made, I thumb it up. If it's a decision I regret making, I thumb it down. People and systems will read that input for one of two ways: either optimizing stuff for my preferences, or using that data to make choices further in line with my preferences. Either way, the world is marginally more like I like it.

Right, but what about consumers that want the rating to be meaningful? Assumably netflix has a history of videos you've seen entirely; they don't need your rating to know you consumed it.

Personally I just stop watching the moment I feel regret—the thumbs down button has no role in how I consume.

Two star ratings, though—that is meaningful, at least to me.

You may stop watching a movie on Netflix because you do not like it. You may also stop watching a movie on Netflix because you already saw it multiple times and only wanted to rewatch few minutes snippet from it.

Without your thumbs up/down feedback it is hard for Netflix to figure out what is your opinion about the movie.