Timeline for Rationale behind downvote button
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
22 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 19, 2022 at 14:24 | comment | added | ZeroTheHero | @Felicia this does happen quite frequently. One difficulty is that edits do not trigger any messages to people who previously voted, so it’s neigh impossible to know if a question or an answer has been edited. | |
| Feb 19, 2022 at 14:04 | comment | added | Felicia | The reason should also be mentioned. I have seen low quality questions being upvoted while good quality, although unclear, downvoted. Why then not vote up again when made clearer and at least say what's still wrong if edited? | |
| Feb 18, 2022 at 21:09 | comment | added | ZeroTheHero | You’re made your case (quite patiently as a matter of fact). I disagree with it (very strongly) as I search the site for topics, not users. Because not every question or every answer will get lots of votes, I don’t see how ranking using only upvotes can work. Of course YMMV. | |
| Feb 18, 2022 at 21:02 | comment | added | ZeroTheHero | @erikm feel free to do so. Your worry that “people who don't understand a certain question will judge it 'unclear and not useful', therefore downvoting and burying it before someone who actually understands the question can interact with it” is IMO unfounded and overly general, and rather different than suggesting that, with the exception of some sensitive users, the (down)voting system works reasonably well. | |
| Feb 18, 2022 at 10:08 | comment | added | erik m | @ZeroTheHero I do apologize. (...and just some advice: if you want to use the phrase '...except for snowflake posters...' as argument and then claim that you feel condescended to in the same discussion, you might run the risk of inviting some ironic remarks) | |
| Feb 18, 2022 at 2:46 | comment | added | ZeroTheHero | @erikm With due respect: downvoting is an earned privilege so the suggestion is that people who downvote questions do so even if they do not understand a question or an answer is rather condescending. | |
| Feb 17, 2022 at 14:10 | comment | added | Jon Custer | Searching for 'downvote' on Meta yields 14,250 results. Seems unlikely that the OP has actually gone through them all (and I certainly won't). The bottom line remains - downvotes are core to SE sites and complaining about them here does nothing useful at all. | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 15:08 | comment | added | Kyle Kanos | @erikm It's fine to not like the answers you get on Meta. But if you think your question wasn't answered, then rather than making 6 lengthy comments debating the points, respond with why you think the post doesn't answer your question. | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 15:01 | comment | added | erik m | @KyleKanos Yes, it seems it's only me who fails to see that my question is answered. Anyways, thanks again for your effort. | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 14:53 | comment | added | Kyle Kanos | @erikm you have posted way too much content in the comments here for me to possibly respond to (which really goes to prove my point in (2b)). Unless you didn't actually mean to ask, "Why do downvotes exist? How do they help?", then your question was perfectly clear. You just don't like the answers. | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 8:59 | comment | added | Nij | No, it really isn't. Downvotes simply don't happen to the same extent as upvotes. If they were really as influenced by interpersonal opinion instead of content rating, that wouldn't result. Making up examples that don't reflect the reality of voting only indicates the naiveté in the discussion - there's no solid basis where it has a foundation worthy building on. Fix that first, and then suggest changes, if you still think they're needed. | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 7:59 | comment | added | erik m | @Nij Agreed; as by the same reasoning the downvote is a measure of unpopularity | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 7:43 | comment | added | erik m | '...it might be useful to consider scores on posts as being akin to grades on homework or tests..' Yes, and by the current PSE system the rating of the tests would be done by voting among the other students. Which might be effective, but it might also be unprecise. | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 6:34 | comment | added | erik m | As a scenario: a very deep, thoughtful and complex question on and obscure topic is asked. Due to its nature the first 100 people who view the question does not understand it. 10 of these gives the question a downvote because it seems 'unclear' and 'not useful' to them. Despite the -10 rating one of the few people who understands the topic finds it, leaves an enlightening answer, and upvotes. The question is now left with -9 rating. How is the judgement of the 10 people who downvoted the question of any relevance? | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 6:30 | comment | added | erik m | (3) 'There's more people who don't know enough about a given topic than who do know about that topic' This might be another misunderstanding due to poor phrasing from my side. Cont. below: | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 6:30 | comment | added | Nij | "Consensus can be useful, and it would still be expressed by upvoting." - no, popularity and audience size would be expressed. An answer posted five years ago can be compared to one posted five days ago based on their scores and the ratio of downvotes to upvotes. Without downvotes the score is only measuring how many people saw the answer mixed with how many liked it (and frequently, how many like the user that wrote it). We already have view counts and timestamps, so any "upvotes only" mechanism is misleading as well as redundant. | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 6:19 | comment | added | erik m | (2) Again, my worry is that people who don't understand a certain question will judge it 'unclear and not useful', therefore downvoting and burying it before someone who actually understands the question can interact with it. I admit that I have no evidence either for or against that this happens, but in my mind it seems likely. | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 6:15 | comment | added | erik m | (1) My 'don't have the time' remark in the question was not to be taken as a serious argument. I was was just trying to illustrate the absurdity of me downvoting the questions I find unclear and not useful, as I, due only to my own ignorence, find most questions unclear and not useful for me. I now understand that this remark leaves too much room for misunderstanding. | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 6:07 | comment | added | erik m | (3) By ignoring I mean on an individual basis: if I personally don't find to specific question clear and useful, I will not judge it but leave it to someone else who do might find it clear and useful to interact with. If the question is inherently unclear and useless, it will be ignored and have 0 upvotes. (4) I agree that flagging seems a bit drastic for most cases. | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 6:04 | comment | added | erik m | (1) Consensus can be useful, and it would still be expressed by upvoting. I am hesitant to say that encouraging a consent in a community is good for finding the correct answer, but this might have been a misunderstanding from my side of a comment above. | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 5:51 | comment | added | erik m | Thanks for taking the time to provide an answer. It does seem that my question was very unclear, but I will try to comment on some of the misunderstandings caused. Again, I am not here to tell anyone how to run a website, the proposals you listed are either given by me on specific questions on existing alternatives for downvoting, or given as alternatives in PSE guidelines. But all this can be found in comments to the question. | |
| Feb 16, 2022 at 1:40 | history | answered | Kyle Kanos | CC BY-SA 4.0 |