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Hi,

If someone votes you down or you lose reputation because of something you've said either due to incorrect information or being off topic etc, how do we know why?

While I totally agree that the voting should be anonymous, it might be helpful if we could see what has been marked this way, perhaps with a brief anonymous explanation, so we can learn that the information we have provided is not correct.

Would love to know other people's thoughts on this.

Cheers,

Paul.

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No one has posted this link yet, oddly: paleohacks.com/questions/18088/… Note that this question was eventually closed because things got a little heated. – Paul Jul 9 2011 at 7:40
Thanks. I always do a search to see if my question has been answered before. This time is did search for 'voting down' and 'reputation' but nothing along these lines came up. Thanks for the link. – Paleo_Hutch Jul 9 2011 at 9:53
Most of my rare down votes were accidents due to the fact that I scroll left-handed on my iPhone. :( I normally just immediately upvote the commer again, though I dunno if it cancels out... – Kirsten Jul 9 2011 at 15:33
No worries, Paleo Hutch. Your question is related, but different. Also just interesting that it seems from back then that there's no easy solution to this problem. – Paul Jul 9 2011 at 17:49
1 
 No one would know that unless they asked Melissa, and there's nothing wrong with having a discussion about it. The fact that this question hasn't been commented on for so long suggests that we are already outside having fun! :) – Paleo_Hutch Sep 23 2011 at 7:34
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3 Answers

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It would be cool if a downvote was accompanied by a requirement to click a dropdown box with a choice of reasons.

example:

  1. Offensive tone and/or attitude

  2. Disagree with specific fact(s) and or opinion presented

  3. Not relevant to discussion at hand.

etc etc.

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5 
 Agreed! Great ideas. – gilliebean♦ Jul 8 2011 at 21:39
2 
 that's a nice idea - and still anonymous! – none Jul 8 2011 at 21:42
3 
 anonymous downvoting kind of sucks doesn't it ? I always upvote a post which was downvoted without explanation. – Ikco Jul 8 2011 at 21:45
2 
 I am going to downvote you now to raise your blood pressure so as to take your mind off your VAP test results – Aravind Jul 8 2011 at 21:50
4 
 A drop down box is a great idea. You can give a reason and remain anonymous. I think having some sort of system like this will help 'hackers' (especially newbies like me) to become better at what they do and therefore make Paleohacks.com even better at what it does. Of course it's brilliant anyway, but I'm sure you know what I mean. :) – Paleo_Hutch Jul 8 2011 at 22:25
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4

Someone that some of the more polite PaleoHackers who down-vote do is leave a comment explaining why they down-voted. Not everybody does this; but it's certainly appreciated.

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1 
 Of course the polite 'hackers' are great, but not everyone does leave a comment about why they've voted down. Of course when they do it's very much appreciated. I wonder, if a system is put in place, could reputation points be awarded so all are encouraged to give their reasons. – Paleo_Hutch Jul 8 2011 at 22:17
2

I can't remember ever being confused by why an answer has been down-voted. Even the few of my own who have been; I used language which I knew was bound to offend a couple people.

The only reason I downvote is because a reply doesn't even qualify as an 'answer' (if you have a random question or want to be a smart-ass, or have no information to impart beyond a terse sentance, use the comment function), or because it is excessively rude/negative.

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1 
 Hi Animalcule, It's great that you cannot remember ever being confused as to why you were down voted, especially if you knew you were going to offend. But this isn't just being about smart-arsed, it's also about learning that your answer or 'fact' is not correct. I am new to the Paleo lifestyle and there are differing opinions everywhere. Some are of course based on fact and others on people's preference. If people vote you down because what you have said is wrong, how can we learn from it if we are not told why? – Paleo_Hutch Jul 10 2011 at 13:05
I believe that some people downvote when they disagree with an opinion expressed in an answer, but I think it's relatively few. And usually, downvotes for a 'wrong' answer seem to come when that answer is also short or rude. I don't think the up and down votes are there to help us learn, but to make the paleohacks experience more social and entertaining... – animalcule Jul 10 2011 at 16:05

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