Timeline for Negative up-vote/down-vote ratio: is it effective mentoring, or too harsh?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
18 events
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| Feb 28, 2017 at 13:22 | comment | added | Run5k |
@DavidPostill, that is true and obviously adding a comment is preferable to the "drive-by down vote", as Music2myear described it. That being said, devoting sufficient time to both down-vote and comment still doesn't explain a negative up-vote/down-vote ratio, especially when the Help Center emphasizes that our primary focus should be just the opposite. People who dedicate enough time to down-vote and comment could utilize some of that same energy to up-vote worthy questions & answers in order to balance the scales… but they don't.
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| Feb 28, 2017 at 9:22 | comment | added | DavidPostill Mod | You also haven't correlated downvotes with comments explaining how a question (or answer) could be improved. Some people just downvote, others downvote and comment. | |
| Feb 27, 2017 at 0:38 | comment | added | Run5k | @fixer1234, all good observations. The fact that down-votes on answers cost the voter a bit of rep crossed my mind, and I'm sure that has an impact on their habits. And yes, some people will certainly have loftier standards than others. Your third point is definitely valid and quite interesting. Hopefully those scenarios don't occur too often, though. Regarding an analysis of a different group of voters or shorter time frame for the sample, my methods were admittedly remedial. I assume that those capabilities might be available to someone with over 10k reputation, and perhaps even over 25k. | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 23:35 | comment | added | fixer1234 | 4) Interesting analysis. I wonder how rep or longevity correlate with voting patterns. A "purer" measure might be to look at the most prolific N voters, They might be a somewhat different group and would account for the highest percentage of votes. 5) The site has evolved over the years, and users' attitudes change over time. If you want a snapshot of current practices, maybe limit the statistics to votes cast in the last year or two (it could be either the same population of voters or base the population on the voting during that period). | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 23:34 | comment | added | fixer1234 | A couple of thoughts. 1) Downvotes cost rep, so you might expect that, alone, to skew the ratio. People might be more careful with downvotes, or more likely to use an alternative like a comment or edit. 2) People have different standards for good and bad. 3) Upvotes are commonly used to encourage new members. They are also often used as reciprocal rewards or to make a question seem more attractive to attract views to an answer. Using votes in those kinds of unintended ways tends to skew the ratio. (cont'd) | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 9:16 | comment | added | Journeyman Geek Mod | On the contrary, it could mean they're understated compared to upvotes. | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 9:10 | comment | added | Run5k | @JourneymanGeek,, so that seems to help reinforce the visible profile down-vote counts... despite Mark Twain's legendary musings that attempt to dismiss all statistics as invalid. ;-) | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 9:06 | comment | added | Journeyman Geek Mod | DV + delete dosen't seem to count. | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 8:21 | comment | added | Run5k |
@JourneymanGeek, for your situational awareness my data sources were rather remedial: I looked at the Super User reputation league standing for 2016, opened each user profile, navigated to the Activity tab and noted their cumulative up-votes/down-votes at the bottom of the page. After that, I simply typed them into an Excel spreadsheet and let formulas do almost all the rest of it.
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| Feb 26, 2017 at 8:15 | comment | added | Run5k | @GypsySpellweaver, I understand what you're saying, but based upon your analogy about the blizzard I think that you may be missing my point. I'm not saying that down-votes themselves are too harsh. I was emphasizing that the people on this list are a cross-section of the most active members of our community. If they are so proactive that they have ample opportunity to cast numerous down-votes, they probably have sufficient chance to cast up-votes, too. A few of these people had roughly a 1-to-5 up-vote/down-vote ratio! | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 8:06 | comment | added | Journeyman Geek Mod | From SEDE? The query may be illuminating | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 8:05 | comment | added | Run5k | @JourneymanGeek, as I said within my answer, none of the five mods who made the top 50 list had a negative voting ratio. I'm sure it's possible that some of the top 50 are relatively inactive now, but I utilized the most recent comprehensive data: the calendar year that just ended eight weeks ago. | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 7:57 | comment | added | Bob | @JourneymanGeek I believe it does. <== anecdotal | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 5:33 | comment | added | Journeyman Geek Mod | I have no idea - should be semi trivial to check, depending on where his source is. Also, come to think of it, some of the top 50 might actually be inactive. Amusingly I don't ever recall seeing John T on the site... roughly ever. And thanks | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 5:28 | comment | added | Scott - Слава Україні | @JourneymanGeek: If you downvote something, and it is subsequently deleted, does it still count in your statistics? P.S. Congratulations on surpassing 100K! | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 4:48 | comment | added | Chindraba | To quote Mart Twain: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.". So, what's behind the numbers? For those with the negative ratio, do they also do a lot of editing on Q/A to make them better, seemingly down-voting only those beyond redemption? Do they down-vote what others would (or should) also down-vote? What may seem a bit harsh can still be for the best. My parents wouldn't let me run out in a blizzard half-clothed with a flat "NO." That seemed harsh, but it was still right. A long discussion wouldn't make it more right. | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 4:15 | comment | added | Journeyman Geek Mod | Its worth noting two things for me, firstly - most things I've downvoted tend to be terrible and often deleted, so the ratio for me is skewed. I also probably vote less than I should. And if something is truely terrible I have the option of putting it out of my misery fast. I wonder how leaving any mod (or maybe even ex mod) out of the top 50 will skew the results. | |
| Feb 26, 2017 at 3:55 | history | answered | Run5k | CC BY-SA 3.0 |