32
votes
Offering a bounty in exchange for upvotes
This is not allowed. I've removed the offer.
Stack Exchange works by ensuring that the best information rises to the top. Thus, the motivation for upvoting a post needs to be anchored in the merits ...
- 209k
29
votes
Accepted
Downvoting needs to change
Don't be disheartened by very negative scores
In many ways, a very negative score means you did something right - people looked at your question. Maybe it was unpopular, but the best solution is to ...
- 41.6k
23
votes
Accepted
Why are all the answers here being downvoted?
I am the person who downvoted. I am not afraid "to come forward", as many have speculated. I don't believe that I have done anything wrong, and I am rather certain I have not broken any rules.
So ...
Wheat WizardMod
- 94.5k
22
votes
Accepted
Don't downvote off topic posts into oblivion
posts that are unintentionally against our on-topic guidelines have no reason to be downvoted.
This is false; posts with a score of -4 or lower do not appear on the front page.
Making low quality ...
- 209k
20
votes
On downvoting questions of users not in the know
The tooltip for the downvote button says
This question does not show any research effort; it is unclear or not useful.
It is an excellent description of the question you link.
Does not show any ...
- 43k
19
votes
Why are some users so quick to jump on a bandwagon?
Conservation of nitpicking
I want to give a pragmatic answer on the need for nitpicking. By nitpicks, I mean tedious-seeming inquiries on minor points like "Can the list be empty?" or "...
- 141k
17
votes
On downvoting questions of users not in the know
If the challenge is a homework question in disguise, or otherwise looks like an attempt to get this community to do someone else's work for them, then I would downvote it. I would certainly not direct ...
- 6,376
17
votes
Incentives for answering old questions
Run a monthly contest
We have an annual contest which attracts quite a bit of attention to the winners inherently, and a bit more because it uses bounties for prizes. It's too process-heavy to run ...
- 43k
17
votes
Newbie question about voting
Voting while participating
As it's a contest it doesn't make sense to vote for other answers - does it?
It is a contest, but I like to think of it as a challenge. And everyone participates ...
- 45.8k
14
votes
Newbie question about voting
Do not vote for code length!
Code length is not a good way to determine what to vote for, because it isn't a good indicator of quality. A golflang submission can be thoroughly uninteresting and still ...
- 15.2k
13
votes
How did I lose 5 reputation on an answer?
A quick glance at your reputation history reveals that your answer was unaccepted (-15) and got an upvote (+10). The sum is the -5 you saw in the notification area.
- 209k
13
votes
Should I upvote an answer based on how much it was improved?
No one can tell you how to vote
Voting is a very subjective thing. Some people are liberal, others not so much. Ultimately, you should upvote or downvote an answer (or question) if you think it's ...
- 48.3k
12
votes
Incentives for answering old questions
Clarify how to handle changing standards
Visibility and incentives aside, answering old questions is awkward because of changing site standards. I've given up on submissions I started to write ...
- 141k
12
votes
Accepted
Downvoting wrong answers in a specific language
All of the reasons you give for downvoting are acceptable and appropriate reasons.
The fact that you're not paying attention to other languages, so you don't downvote other answers that fit those ...
- 6,038
11
votes
Should I upvote an answer based on how much it was improved?
I think the direct answer ought to be 'NO: you should not upvote an answer based on whether it was improved.'
If this was common practice, it could encourage answerers to deliberately submit ...
- 30.9k
10
votes
Accepted
2 downvotes + 1 upvote = 1 more reputation
Reddit karma is +1/-1. Why should SE rep be +10/-2?
In short, the voting and reputation structure are optimized for a Q/A site rather than a system that ranks popular opinions.
There is asymmetry in ...
- 21.3k
10
votes
Downvoting needs to change
I don't think it makes sense to put a limit on the votes of a post -- people vote the way they want, there should not be a restriction on that.
What I do agree with, is that people should change ...
- 8,301
10
votes
Is it permitted to upvote only to test submissions?
Absolutely not
In general
Targeted upvoting – i.e., upvoting because of the poster instead of the post itself – is forbidden on the entire network and can have unpleasant consequences both for the ...
- 209k
10
votes
Why are all the answers here being downvoted?
You shouldn't use moderator flags for this purpose -- I don't know what you expect me to do. Information about individual votes is private, even for moderators.
Presumably whoever cast these votes is ...
- 71.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Downvoting Questions on Hold
Voting and closing serve two separate purposes, so doing both can send two separate signals. The purpose of a (challenge) downvote, as per the tooltip that appears when you hover over it, is:
This ...
- 71.3k
9
votes
Newer users can't view vote counts, therefore cannot view current site consensus
Converting my deleted comment into an answer for more visibility
While this is a popular idea (and something I personally support), changing this isn't going to happen, but there is an easy way around ...
- 48.3k
9
votes
An experiment into the FGITW phenomenon
These are some very interesting and, unfortunately, not-too-surprising results. I do think the FGITW phenomenon is quite disappointing and discouraging for what I'd say are higher quality and higher ...
- 40.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Can deleted answers be down-voted?
No
If a user that can see deleted posts tries to downvote one, they will get the message:
This post has been deleted; deleted posts can't be voted on
However, due to a known bug horrible design ...
- 58k
8
votes
Accepted
Free privileges with "Graduation Userscript"
Vote breakdowns are trivially exposed to userscripts (you can even get them from Stack Exchange Data Explorer) but without such a script you're limited by privilege reputation thresholds. You don't ...
- 24.5k
7
votes
Accepted
How long can I access my deleted question?
As far as I know, questions are never truly deleted unless they contain extreme vulgarity or spam. And I believe only SE employees can do these hard deletions.
You can view your deleted question for ...
- 88.9k
7
votes
Why are some users so quick to jump on a bandwagon?
I can only speak to the nitpicking point since I haven't seen any examples of the first point that I can remember. About this second point I have two things to say:
Nitpicking
First off nit picking ...
Wheat WizardMod
- 94.5k
6
votes
Why are some users so quick to jump on a bandwagon?
Why do users nitpick questions?
Because it makes the challenges better (and hence, more fun for everyone), and evens the playing field.
I'm bringing this specific example up because I spent two hours ...
- 2,722
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible