Downvoting - what and why

[Devobah]

On 10/26/2024 at 1:12 PM, Malc said:

Having seen some downvoting recently on this forum, I'm more than a little curious about why other members downvote a post or comment.

Are you willing to share your rationale? If you would like to comment on how your LDS faith informs your decision to downvote or not, I'd be interested in that too.

I'll start!

I don't recall downvoting in the past, though that may be more a function of my memory than anything else.

There's quite a lot that I disagree with - being an apostate on a largely believing forum - but disagreeing with someone per se is not, for me, a reason to downvote.

It's possible that I might consider downvoting a comment that I see as particulary nasty, but I've no ambition to be a forum nanny - more likely in a case like that that I'll try to respond with something positive, or, at least, mollifying.

If I feel a flash of anger at something I read, I may hold off a bit to see who else responds, and how, and as a result may refrain from saying anything. Certain others are much more eloquent and compassionate than I, so it sometimes pays to wait.

I don’t think I’ve ever downvoted anything on this forum. Mostly it’s just liking or upvoting on various posts. The occasional chuckle from reading a comment will get the “Haha” from me. 
If I’m upvoting it usually means I agree or feel the post needs greater attention I don’t like downvoting. It takes away from discussion and really does nothing other than show disagreement. I’d rather tell someone why I disagree rather than just leave a thumbs down. 

[Malc]

8 hours ago, Devobah said:

I don’t think I’ve ever downvoted anything on this forum. Mostly it’s just liking or upvoting on various posts. The occasional chuckle from reading a comment will get the “Haha” from me. 
If I’m upvoting it usually means I agree or feel the post needs greater attention I don’t like downvoting. It takes away from discussion and really does nothing other than show disagreement. I’d rather tell someone why I disagree rather than just leave a thumbs down. 

Thanks, Devobah. I feel very much the same way: if I particularly like a comment for any reason - perhaps I disagree, but I find it thought-provoking - I may "Like" it, but I don't so much like the idea of downvoting something without giving my rationale.

I confess that I do sometimes upvote a comment that I might have previously passed by if I see that it has been downvotes for no obvious (to me!) reason.

[JVW]

How can you see how many downvotes you've given or received?

[Malc]

6 hours ago, JVW said:

How can you see how many downvotes you've given or received?

If you go to your profile, and click the Reputation button, you can see a summary of reactions given & received.

ETA: apparently you can see anyone's rep summary, not just your own!

Edited October 29, 2024 by Malc
Rep details

[SeekingUnderstanding]

20 hours ago, Rain said:

Huh.  Apparently, I have given 4 downvotes.  Not happy about that.  No judgment on others.  I just don't like that I have done it for multiple reasons.

 

19 hours ago, Calm said:

There have been some very nasty sexist or racist comments on the board, but also some highly judgmental. Sometimes it’s necessary imo to express my unhappiness with a post more than just reporting it to the mods. I don’t give it to people who would change their behaviour if I talked to them about how it would come across, but ones who have done it intentionally and don’t back down.

I have 50….

The positives I have given are over 100,000, so I am not unhappy about my rate.   

Yeah, I’m at a rate of 3 bad per 10000 good, so I guess that’s ok. Overall not a fan of using downvotes for disagreements on any platform except in extreme situations. 

[MiserereNobis]

1 minute ago, SeekingUnderstanding said:

 

Yeah, I’m at a rate of 3 bad per 10000 good, so I guess that’s ok. Overall not a fan of using downvotes for disagreements on any platform except in extreme situations. 

I've given 8 downvotes total.

You know who you are why you deserved them 😈😂

[manol]

Haven't given out any yet... saving myself for that special someone...

[Rain]

2 hours ago, MiserereNobis said:

I've given 8 downvotes total.

You know who you are why you deserved them 😈😂

Hey! I don't feel I deserved them just because I thought your Hatch chiles were too spicy.  I think you should have kept it to things on the board. 

And way to go convincing someone else I deserved 7 more. Hmpf.

[MiserereNobis]

1 minute ago, Rain said:

Hey! I don't feel I deserved them just because I thought your Hatch chiles were too spicy.  I think you should have kept it to things on the board. 

And way to go convincing someone else I deserved 7 more. Hmpf.

Upvote for spelling chiles correctly!

But there ain’t no disrespecting Hatch chile when you are in southern New Mexico. You eat ‘em and love ‘em or we locals downvote you 😐

[Dario_M]

Yesterday Raingirl downvoted me 6 times in my topic that has been clossed due to the builing atmosfeer on there. 

Edited November 5, 2024 by Dario_M

[Dario_M]

On 10/29/2024 at 1:33 AM, manol said:

Haven't given out any yet... saving myself for that special someone...

Maybe you can give me one. One day. ⬇️ That would be special. 

[JVW]

Gave you a few downvotes Dario, I hope you take good care of them.

[Dario_M]

10 minutes ago, JVW said:

Gave you a few downvotes Dario, I hope you take good care of them.

I also have given you on as well. You're welcome. 🤷‍♀️

[Calm]

8 hours ago, Dario_M said:

Yesterday Raingirl downvoted me 6 times in my topic that has been clossed due to the builing atmosfeer on there. 

Just learn to live with it.  People not being happy at times with what we say is part of life.  She is simply disagreeing with your responses like I did and like you did to others when you posted those posts, we just showed our disagreement in different ways.  Also she couldn’t post so that was the only way she could express her disagreement.

 

Edited November 5, 2024 by Calm

[MustardSeed]

33 minutes ago, Calm said:

Just learn to live with it.  People not being happy at times with what we say is part of life.  She is simply disagreeing with your responses like I did and like you did to others when you posted those posts, we just showed our disagreement in different ways.  Also she couldn’t post so that was the only way she could express her disagreement.

 

If Dario is going to complain about being down voted, maybe he should look at his own tendency to down vote at a rate of 3x the number of downvotes he receives. 

[Dario_M]

34 minutes ago, Calm said:

Just learn to live with it.

6 downvotes was a bit to much in my opinion. 

34 minutes ago, Calm said:

 People not being happy at times with what we say is part of life.

Why are they reading it then?

34 minutes ago, Calm said:

 She is simply disagreeing with your responses like I did and like you did to others when you posted those posts,

I made only a mistake. I misread a post. Why all the fuss?

34 minutes ago, Calm said:

 Also she couldn’t post so that was the only way she could express her disagreement.

 

The topic was closed on my request and after i reported SeekingUnderstanding because of his rude behavoir and i just couldn't take it anymore. Raingirl should have left it with that, without giving me the final digital kick. Was totaly unnecessary in my opinion. 🤷‍♀️

[Dario_M]

Okay but enough about it. I'm not gonna react on this subject anymore. 

[Calm]

1 minute ago, Dario_M said:

Why are they reading it then?

Why do you read posts you downvote?

I honestly don’t understand why you have a problem with people downvoting you when you downvote them.  Are you thinking horrible things about them when you downvote or just disagree with something they said and downvoting is an easy way to express that disagreement?

[Calm]

1 minute ago, Dario_M said:

Okay but enough about it. I'm not gonna react on this subject anymore. 

I posted my comment before I saw this.  

[MustardSeed]

Respectfully I am going to say it is not a demonstration of good faith participation on this established board for you Dario to tap out of conversations whenever you are effectively challenged.  This is a discussion board, not a place to dump complaints and then tap out.

I will no longer be engaging with you or about you due to this consistent behavior of yours.  I will do my best to ignore comments that show up and other peoples responses to you. Wish you the best but i won’t engage further with you or about you on any topic. 
 

If you’re willing to take accountability and make a change, let me know. I am the forgiving sort.  Be well. 

[Dario_M]

3 minutes ago, MustardSeed said:

Respectfully I am going to say it is not a demonstration of good faith participation on this established board for you Dario to tap out of conversations whenever you are effectively challenged.  This is a discussion board, not a place to dump complaints and then tap out.

I will no longer be engaging with you or about you due to this consistent behavior of yours.  I will do my best to ignore comments that show up and other peoples responses to you. Wish you the best but i won’t engage further with you or about you on any topic. 
 

If you’re willing to take accountability and make a change, let me know. I am the forgiving sort.  Be well. 

I'm sorry that i've misread your post in my clossed topic. My apologies. 

[Stargazer]

On 10/26/2024 at 9:42 PM, Raingirl said:

I occasionally downvote posts. Upvote usually means you like or agree with a post, and no one seems to have an issue with that. Downvote simply means you disagree or dislike a post.  No reason to get upset about it, it’s just the other side of the coin.  

Some posters do use the downvote as a personal attack.  I’ve never had any issues with the women on the board, but there have been a couple of the guys who will - after I’ve downvoted their post - immediately go back months or years into my posts to downvote multiple posts.  I guess they think this childish behavior will bother me.  🙄

I remember you downvoting some of my posts. I found it amusing in part, and puzzling in part. And I don't think I went back to downvote anything of yours in retaliation...?  I don't remember if I did do that at any time, but if I did, I'm sorry and apologize. 

I've downvoted a few posts here and there, and I am actually glad that the feature was enabled. Gives us a broader range of expression.

[Malc]

3 hours ago, Calm said:

Why do you read posts you downvote?

I honestly don’t understand why you have a problem with people downvoting you when you downvote them.  Are you thinking horrible things about them when you downvote or just disagree with something they said and downvoting is an easy way to express that disagreement?

Looking at it the other way around, I sincerely hope that people are reading posts that they downvote.

Is it really possible that someone would downvote a post without reading it? That would really bother me, but, again, I'm not the board nanny, and (apart from it being against the rules) have no wish to be so.

[Stargazer]

On 10/27/2024 at 12:08 AM, Calm said:

I downvote when I see posters cross the lines in the same areas as Peacefully does, the sensitive places…and it’s an obvious, intentional crossing.

I want to downvote when a post seems high end arrogant to me, but I mostly restrain myself because perhaps I just don’t know that person well enough and it wouldn’t sound arrogant if I did.

I'm not trying to give you strokes you don't deserve, but if ever got a downvote from you it would make me turn back and seriously reconsider what I had posted. I can't say this has happened before, memory fails me, but it's possible you've downvoted something I've posted before. 

And I can be quite arrogant occasionally, so...

[Stargazer]

On 10/27/2024 at 1:53 AM, manol said:

My perception is that downvotes are not very good at conveying information or intent.  I get the impression they can be misunderstood, and/or can hurt the feelings of the recipient, and tempting as it might be sometimes, that's not what I'm here for. 

That's what has confused me about certain posters' downvotes. The downvote alone tells me little, and I'd prefer a response telling me why the downvote occurred.