Well, another big site explored this. DailyKos made votes public.

You are not wrong. The info was very useful. One could get a map of users and a real sense of their politics, preferences, etc...

I did, and learned a TON about online dialog. Knowledge I have put to use elsewhere to great effect.

But the cost! Damn. The truth is that data generates an insane amount of meta. You name it. Cliques, brigades, retribution, beauty contests, the works!