Post History
Very short answer - get rid of downvotes on answers; just don't allow them In fact, wouldn't it be a better policy to award upvotes to people who point out errors. That would encourage folk to wan...
Answer
#5: Post edited
by
Andy aka
·
2022-02-12T17:29:39Z (almost 3 years ago)
- # Very short answer - get rid of downvotes on answers; just don't allow them
- **My SE experience on answer downvoting - How do we want folk to actually behave?**
- I'm mentioning this because it might point to a user behaviour model that is preferable: -
- - We should encourage people to behave in a similar way to me (more further down)
- - Or, in a way that we all, by consensus (or compromise), agree on
- Of course, my tactics on answer-downvoting may not be agreeable to everyone nevertheless, I think it's important to agree on what conduct is preferable (the goal) so that any changes we make are focussed on achieving that goal.
- **What do I do (what are my tactics behind answer-downvotes)**
- Firstly, I hardly ever downvote answers - I read a lot of answers every day (in SE) and, when I see an answer that is wrong, I leave a comment. I don't downvote that answer because I think that a strongly worded comment is sufficient to do the trick. The trick being: stop other readers believing that a particular answer has any merit. Sometimes, maybe once per month, a particular answer is sooooo bad that I do downvote it. But, more often than not it gets flagged for moderator intervention.
- In other words, there is hardly ever a good reason to down vote an answer IMHO. Maybe downvoting answers should not be allowed period?
- Can anyone come up with a good reason to downvote an answer rather than leave a strongly worded comment or flag for deletion/intervention?
- **Some potentially plausible reasons why people downvote an answer**
- I'm mentioning this because SE is notorious for answer downvotes for the most trivial of reasons: -
- 1) Only a partial answer is given
- 2) No links to what is being asserted
- I've received downvotes for both the reasons above and it really annoys me.
- If I leave a partial answer i.e. the OP has asked two questions (in their allotted space) and I've only answered one of them, I'm still providing good information yet, a few of the great unwashed reading my answer will target me and downvote. I'm quite persistent at getting to the bottom of these things so, I do find out the reasons in the end.
- Hence, why I say partial answers are not a good reason to make a downvote.
- I've also been targeted by some who think I should provide more links to back-up what I say. Again, this is a very poor reason to give down votes.
- **What are we trying to stop happening?**
- This is the core question as I see it and this is what should be focussed on. I think that downvoting an answer is a poor way to do things. If an answer is bad, leave a comment and flag for deletion or intervention.
- I would also like to quote Olin: -
- > _As engineers, we consider it a favor when someone points out a mistake because that gives us a chance to make the design better, and maybe learn something._
- The above I totally agree with - if we screw up then, as engineers we should be overjoyed to have that little bit of wrongness lodged in our brains corrected for the rest of time. Sensible engineers know this but, do we really need downvotes on answers to achieve that?
- -----
- <sub>Please note that this is about answer-downvoting **AND NOT** question-downvoting. There are dozens of reasons why a question might be validly downvoted (different subject).</sub>
- # Very short answer - get rid of downvotes on answers; just don't allow them
- In fact, wouldn't it be a better policy to award upvotes to people who point out errors. That would encourage folk to want to help people fix crappy answers without the discontent that downvotes bring. OK, it may be a tricky one to implement but, it's worth considering after all didn't Kennedy say. “We choose to go to the Moon and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Just saying.
- **My SE experience on answer downvoting - How do we want folk to actually behave?**
- I'm mentioning this because it might point to a user behaviour model that is preferable: -
- - We should encourage people to behave in a similar way to me (more further down)
- - Or, in a way that we all, by consensus (or compromise), agree on
- Of course, my tactics on answer-downvoting may not be agreeable to everyone nevertheless, I think it's important to agree on what conduct is preferable (the goal) so that any changes we make are focussed on achieving that goal.
- **What do I do (what are my tactics behind answer-downvotes)**
- Firstly, I hardly ever downvote answers - I read a lot of answers every day (in SE) and, when I see an answer that is wrong, I leave a comment. I don't downvote that answer because I think that a strongly worded comment is sufficient to do the trick. The trick being: stop other readers believing that a particular answer has any merit. Sometimes, maybe once per month, a particular answer is sooooo bad that I do downvote it. But, more often than not it gets flagged for moderator intervention.
- In other words, there is hardly ever a good reason to down vote an answer IMHO. Maybe downvoting answers should not be allowed period?
- Can anyone come up with a good reason to downvote an answer rather than leave a strongly worded comment or flag for deletion/intervention?
- **Some potentially plausible reasons why people downvote an answer**
- I'm mentioning this because SE is notorious for answer downvotes for the most trivial of reasons: -
- 1) Only a partial answer is given
- 2) No links to what is being asserted
- I've received downvotes for both the reasons above and it really annoys me.
- If I leave a partial answer i.e. the OP has asked two questions (in their allotted space) and I've only answered one of them, I'm still providing good information yet, a few of the great unwashed reading my answer will target me and downvote. I'm quite persistent at getting to the bottom of these things so, I do find out the reasons in the end.
- Hence, why I say partial answers are not a good reason to make a downvote.
- I've also been targeted by some who think I should provide more links to back-up what I say. Again, this is a very poor reason to give down votes.
- **What are we trying to stop happening?**
- This is the core question as I see it and this is what should be focussed on. I think that downvoting an answer is a poor way to do things. If an answer is bad, leave a comment and flag for deletion or intervention.
- I would also like to quote Olin: -
- > _As engineers, we consider it a favor when someone points out a mistake because that gives us a chance to make the design better, and maybe learn something._
- The above I totally agree with - if we screw up then, as engineers we should be overjoyed to have that little bit of wrongness lodged in our brains corrected for the rest of time. Sensible engineers know this but, do we really need downvotes on answers to achieve that?
- -----
- <sub>Please note that this is about answer-downvoting **AND NOT** question-downvoting. There are dozens of reasons why a question might be validly downvoted (different subject).</sub>
#4: Post edited
by
Andy aka
·
2022-02-12T14:07:00Z (almost 3 years ago)
- **My SE experience on answer downvoting - How do we want folk to actually behave?**
- I'm mentioning this because it might point to a user behaviour model that is preferable: -
- - We should encourage people to behave in a similar way to me (more further down)
- - Or, in a way that we all, by consensus (or compromise), agree on
- Of course, my tactics on answer-downvoting may not be agreeable to everyone nevertheless, I think it's important to agree on what conduct is preferable (the goal) so that any changes we make are focussed on achieving that goal.
- **What do I do (what are my tactics behind answer-downvotes)**
- Firstly, I hardly ever downvote answers - I read a lot of answers every day (in SE) and, when I see an answer that is wrong, I leave a comment. I don't downvote that answer because I think that a strongly worded comment is sufficient to do the trick. The trick being: stop other readers believing that a particular answer has any merit. Sometimes, maybe once per month, a particular answer is sooooo bad that I do downvote it. But, more often than not it gets flagged for moderator intervention.
- In other words, there is hardly ever a good reason to down vote an answer IMHO. Maybe downvoting answers should not be allowed period?
- Can anyone come up with a good reason to downvote an answer rather than leave a strongly worded comment or flag for deletion/intervention?
- **Some potentially plausible reasons why people downvote an answer**
- I'm mentioning this because SE is notorious for answer downvotes for the most trivial of reasons: -
- 1) Only a partial answer is given
- 2) No links to what is being asserted
- I've received downvotes for both the reasons above and it really annoys me.
- If I leave a partial answer i.e. the OP has asked two questions (in their allotted space) and I've only answered one of them, I'm still providing good information yet, a few of the great unwashed reading my answer will target me and downvote. I'm quite persistent at getting to the bottom of these things so, I do find out the reasons in the end.
- Hence, why I say partial answers are not a good reason to make a downvote.
- I've also been targeted by some who think I should provide more links to back-up what I say. Again, this is a very poor reason to give down votes.
- **What are we trying to stop happening?**
- This is the core question as I see it and this is what should be focussed on. I think that downvoting an answer is a poor way to do things. If an answer is bad, leave a comment and flag for deletion or intervention.
- I would also like to quote Olin: -
- > _As engineers, we consider it a favor when someone points out a mistake because that gives us a chance to make the design better, and maybe learn something._
- The above I totally agree with - if we screw up then, as engineers we should be overjoyed to have that little bit of wrongness lodged in our brains corrected for the rest of time. Sensible engineers know this but, do we really need downvotes on answers to achieve that?
- -----
- <sub>Please note that this is about answer-downvoting **AND NOT** question-downvoting. There are dozens of reasons why a question might be validly downvoted (different subject).</sub>
- # Very short answer - get rid of downvotes on answers; just don't allow them
- **My SE experience on answer downvoting - How do we want folk to actually behave?**
- I'm mentioning this because it might point to a user behaviour model that is preferable: -
- - We should encourage people to behave in a similar way to me (more further down)
- - Or, in a way that we all, by consensus (or compromise), agree on
- Of course, my tactics on answer-downvoting may not be agreeable to everyone nevertheless, I think it's important to agree on what conduct is preferable (the goal) so that any changes we make are focussed on achieving that goal.
- **What do I do (what are my tactics behind answer-downvotes)**
- Firstly, I hardly ever downvote answers - I read a lot of answers every day (in SE) and, when I see an answer that is wrong, I leave a comment. I don't downvote that answer because I think that a strongly worded comment is sufficient to do the trick. The trick being: stop other readers believing that a particular answer has any merit. Sometimes, maybe once per month, a particular answer is sooooo bad that I do downvote it. But, more often than not it gets flagged for moderator intervention.
- In other words, there is hardly ever a good reason to down vote an answer IMHO. Maybe downvoting answers should not be allowed period?
- Can anyone come up with a good reason to downvote an answer rather than leave a strongly worded comment or flag for deletion/intervention?
- **Some potentially plausible reasons why people downvote an answer**
- I'm mentioning this because SE is notorious for answer downvotes for the most trivial of reasons: -
- 1) Only a partial answer is given
- 2) No links to what is being asserted
- I've received downvotes for both the reasons above and it really annoys me.
- If I leave a partial answer i.e. the OP has asked two questions (in their allotted space) and I've only answered one of them, I'm still providing good information yet, a few of the great unwashed reading my answer will target me and downvote. I'm quite persistent at getting to the bottom of these things so, I do find out the reasons in the end.
- Hence, why I say partial answers are not a good reason to make a downvote.
- I've also been targeted by some who think I should provide more links to back-up what I say. Again, this is a very poor reason to give down votes.
- **What are we trying to stop happening?**
- This is the core question as I see it and this is what should be focussed on. I think that downvoting an answer is a poor way to do things. If an answer is bad, leave a comment and flag for deletion or intervention.
- I would also like to quote Olin: -
- > _As engineers, we consider it a favor when someone points out a mistake because that gives us a chance to make the design better, and maybe learn something._
- The above I totally agree with - if we screw up then, as engineers we should be overjoyed to have that little bit of wrongness lodged in our brains corrected for the rest of time. Sensible engineers know this but, do we really need downvotes on answers to achieve that?
- -----
- <sub>Please note that this is about answer-downvoting **AND NOT** question-downvoting. There are dozens of reasons why a question might be validly downvoted (different subject).</sub>
#3: Post edited
by
Andy aka
·
2022-02-11T14:00:05Z (almost 3 years ago)
- **My SE experience on answer downvoting - How do we want folk to actually behave?**
I'm mentioning this because it might point to a behaviour model that is preferable i.e. we should try to encourage people to behave in a similar way to me or, in a way that we all, by consensus (or compromise), agree on. Of course, my tactical behaviour on answer downvoting may not be agreeable to anyone. Nevertheless, I think it's important to agree on what is a preferable so that any changes we make are focussed on achieving that goal.**So, what do I do (what is my reasoning behind answer downvotes)**Firstly, do I ever down-vote answers - I read a lot of answers every day (in SE) and, when I see an answer that is wrong, I leave a comment. I don't downvote that answer because I think a strongly worded comment is sufficient to do the trick. The trick being: stop other readers believing that this particular answer has any merit. Sometimes, maybe once per month, a particular answer is sooooo bad that I do downvote it. But, more often than not it gets flagged for moderator intervention.In other words, there is hardly ever a good reason to down vote an answer IMHO. Maybe downvoting answers should not be allowed period. Can anyone come up with a good reason to downvote an answer rather than leave a strongly worded comment or flag for deletion/intervention?- **Some potentially plausible reasons why people downvote an answer**
- I'm mentioning this because SE is notorious for answer downvotes for the most trivial of reasons: -
- 1) Only a partial answer is given
- 2) No links to what is being asserted
- I've received downvotes for both the reasons above and it really annoys me.
If I leave a partial answer i.e. the OP has asked two questions and I've only answered one of them, I'm still providing good information yet, a few of the great unwashed reading my answer will target me and downvote. I'm quite persistent at getting to the bottom of these things so, I do find out the reasons in the end.- Hence, why I say partial answers are not a good reason to make a downvote.
- I've also been targeted by some who think I should provide more links to back-up what I say. Again, this is a very poor reason to give down votes.
- **What are we trying to stop happening?**
- This is the core question as I see it and this is what should be focussed on. I think that downvoting an answer is a poor way to do things. If an answer is bad, leave a comment and flag for deletion or intervention.
- I would also like to quote Olin: -
- > _As engineers, we consider it a favor when someone points out a mistake because that gives us a chance to make the design better, and maybe learn something._
The above I totally agree with - if we screw up then, as engineers we should be overjoyed to have that little bit of wrongness lodged in our brains corrected for the rest of time. Sensible engineers know this but, do we really need downvotes on answers to achieve that?
- **My SE experience on answer downvoting - How do we want folk to actually behave?**
- I'm mentioning this because it might point to a user behaviour model that is preferable: -
- - We should encourage people to behave in a similar way to me (more further down)
- - Or, in a way that we all, by consensus (or compromise), agree on
- Of course, my tactics on answer-downvoting may not be agreeable to everyone nevertheless, I think it's important to agree on what conduct is preferable (the goal) so that any changes we make are focussed on achieving that goal.
- **What do I do (what are my tactics behind answer-downvotes)**
- Firstly, I hardly ever downvote answers - I read a lot of answers every day (in SE) and, when I see an answer that is wrong, I leave a comment. I don't downvote that answer because I think that a strongly worded comment is sufficient to do the trick. The trick being: stop other readers believing that a particular answer has any merit. Sometimes, maybe once per month, a particular answer is sooooo bad that I do downvote it. But, more often than not it gets flagged for moderator intervention.
- In other words, there is hardly ever a good reason to down vote an answer IMHO. Maybe downvoting answers should not be allowed period?
- Can anyone come up with a good reason to downvote an answer rather than leave a strongly worded comment or flag for deletion/intervention?
- **Some potentially plausible reasons why people downvote an answer**
- I'm mentioning this because SE is notorious for answer downvotes for the most trivial of reasons: -
- 1) Only a partial answer is given
- 2) No links to what is being asserted
- I've received downvotes for both the reasons above and it really annoys me.
- If I leave a partial answer i.e. the OP has asked two questions (in their allotted space) and I've only answered one of them, I'm still providing good information yet, a few of the great unwashed reading my answer will target me and downvote. I'm quite persistent at getting to the bottom of these things so, I do find out the reasons in the end.
- Hence, why I say partial answers are not a good reason to make a downvote.
- I've also been targeted by some who think I should provide more links to back-up what I say. Again, this is a very poor reason to give down votes.
- **What are we trying to stop happening?**
- This is the core question as I see it and this is what should be focussed on. I think that downvoting an answer is a poor way to do things. If an answer is bad, leave a comment and flag for deletion or intervention.
- I would also like to quote Olin: -
- > _As engineers, we consider it a favor when someone points out a mistake because that gives us a chance to make the design better, and maybe learn something._
- The above I totally agree with - if we screw up then, as engineers we should be overjoyed to have that little bit of wrongness lodged in our brains corrected for the rest of time. Sensible engineers know this but, do we really need downvotes on answers to achieve that?
- -----
- <sub>Please note that this is about answer-downvoting **AND NOT** question-downvoting. There are dozens of reasons why a question might be validly downvoted (different subject).</sub>
#2: Post edited
by
Andy aka
·
2022-02-11T10:42:32Z (almost 3 years ago)
- **My SE experience on answer downvoting - How do we want folk to actually behave?**
- I'm mentioning this because it might point to a behaviour model that is preferable i.e. we should try to encourage people to behave in a similar way to me or, in a way that we all, by consensus (or compromise), agree on. Of course, my tactical behaviour on answer downvoting may not be agreeable to anyone. Nevertheless, I think it's important to agree on what is a preferable so that any changes we make are focussed on achieving that goal.
- **So, what do I do (what is my reasoning behind answer downvotes)**
- Firstly, do I ever down-vote answers - I read a lot of answers every day (in SE) and, when I see an answer that is wrong, I leave a comment. I don't downvote that answer because I think a strongly worded comment is sufficient to do the trick. The trick being: stop other readers believing that this particular answer has any merit. Sometimes, maybe once per month, a particular answer is sooooo bad that I do downvote it. But, more often than not it gets flagged for moderator intervention.
- In other words, there is hardly ever a good reason to down vote an answer IMHO. Maybe downvoting answers should not be allowed period. Can anyone come up with a good reason to downvote an answer rather than leave a strongly worded comment or flag for deletion/intervention?
- **Some potentially plausible reasons why people downvote an answer**
- I'm mentioning this because SE is notorious for answer downvotes for the most trivial of reasons: -
- 1) Only a partial answer is given
- 2) No links to what is being asserted
- I've received downvotes for both the reasons above and it really annoys me.
- If I leave a partial answer i.e. the OP has asked two questions and I've only answered one of them, I'm still providing good information yet, a few of the great unwashed reading my answer will target me and downvote. I'm quite persistent at getting to the bottom of these things so, I do find out the reasons in the end.
- Hence, why I say partial answers are not a good reason to make a downvote.
- I've also been targeted by some who think I should provide more links to back-up what I say. Again, this is a very poor reason to give down votes.
- **What are we trying to stop happening?**
This is the core question as I see it and this is what should be focussed on. I think that downvoting an answer is a poor way to do things. If an answer is bad, leave a comment and flag for deletion or intervention.
- **My SE experience on answer downvoting - How do we want folk to actually behave?**
- I'm mentioning this because it might point to a behaviour model that is preferable i.e. we should try to encourage people to behave in a similar way to me or, in a way that we all, by consensus (or compromise), agree on. Of course, my tactical behaviour on answer downvoting may not be agreeable to anyone. Nevertheless, I think it's important to agree on what is a preferable so that any changes we make are focussed on achieving that goal.
- **So, what do I do (what is my reasoning behind answer downvotes)**
- Firstly, do I ever down-vote answers - I read a lot of answers every day (in SE) and, when I see an answer that is wrong, I leave a comment. I don't downvote that answer because I think a strongly worded comment is sufficient to do the trick. The trick being: stop other readers believing that this particular answer has any merit. Sometimes, maybe once per month, a particular answer is sooooo bad that I do downvote it. But, more often than not it gets flagged for moderator intervention.
- In other words, there is hardly ever a good reason to down vote an answer IMHO. Maybe downvoting answers should not be allowed period. Can anyone come up with a good reason to downvote an answer rather than leave a strongly worded comment or flag for deletion/intervention?
- **Some potentially plausible reasons why people downvote an answer**
- I'm mentioning this because SE is notorious for answer downvotes for the most trivial of reasons: -
- 1) Only a partial answer is given
- 2) No links to what is being asserted
- I've received downvotes for both the reasons above and it really annoys me.
- If I leave a partial answer i.e. the OP has asked two questions and I've only answered one of them, I'm still providing good information yet, a few of the great unwashed reading my answer will target me and downvote. I'm quite persistent at getting to the bottom of these things so, I do find out the reasons in the end.
- Hence, why I say partial answers are not a good reason to make a downvote.
- I've also been targeted by some who think I should provide more links to back-up what I say. Again, this is a very poor reason to give down votes.
- **What are we trying to stop happening?**
- This is the core question as I see it and this is what should be focussed on. I think that downvoting an answer is a poor way to do things. If an answer is bad, leave a comment and flag for deletion or intervention.
- I would also like to quote Olin: -
- > _As engineers, we consider it a favor when someone points out a mistake because that gives us a chance to make the design better, and maybe learn something._
- The above I totally agree with - if we screw up then, as engineers we should be overjoyed to have that little bit of wrongness lodged in our brains corrected for the rest of time. Sensible engineers know this but, do we really need downvotes on answers to achieve that?
#1: Initial revision
by
Andy aka
·
2022-02-11T10:38:06Z (almost 3 years ago)
**My SE experience on answer downvoting - How do we want folk to actually behave?** I'm mentioning this because it might point to a behaviour model that is preferable i.e. we should try to encourage people to behave in a similar way to me or, in a way that we all, by consensus (or compromise), agree on. Of course, my tactical behaviour on answer downvoting may not be agreeable to anyone. Nevertheless, I think it's important to agree on what is a preferable so that any changes we make are focussed on achieving that goal. **So, what do I do (what is my reasoning behind answer downvotes)** Firstly, do I ever down-vote answers - I read a lot of answers every day (in SE) and, when I see an answer that is wrong, I leave a comment. I don't downvote that answer because I think a strongly worded comment is sufficient to do the trick. The trick being: stop other readers believing that this particular answer has any merit. Sometimes, maybe once per month, a particular answer is sooooo bad that I do downvote it. But, more often than not it gets flagged for moderator intervention. In other words, there is hardly ever a good reason to down vote an answer IMHO. Maybe downvoting answers should not be allowed period. Can anyone come up with a good reason to downvote an answer rather than leave a strongly worded comment or flag for deletion/intervention? **Some potentially plausible reasons why people downvote an answer** I'm mentioning this because SE is notorious for answer downvotes for the most trivial of reasons: - 1) Only a partial answer is given 2) No links to what is being asserted I've received downvotes for both the reasons above and it really annoys me. If I leave a partial answer i.e. the OP has asked two questions and I've only answered one of them, I'm still providing good information yet, a few of the great unwashed reading my answer will target me and downvote. I'm quite persistent at getting to the bottom of these things so, I do find out the reasons in the end. Hence, why I say partial answers are not a good reason to make a downvote. I've also been targeted by some who think I should provide more links to back-up what I say. Again, this is a very poor reason to give down votes. **What are we trying to stop happening?** This is the core question as I see it and this is what should be focussed on. I think that downvoting an answer is a poor way to do things. If an answer is bad, leave a comment and flag for deletion or intervention.