> Downvotes can function as a way for a site's userbase to say, "Whoa, this is not what this place is supposed to be about, even if it is broadly appealing."

Can be. I'd argue it would appear to me down votes here are overwhelming used for simple disagreement.

It's fun to discuss what a thing could be, spherical cow in a vacuum, it's probably more useful to discuss how that thing actually gets used and how each of us weight the value of those uses.