I usually upvote an answer or question on SO when it's nice, and that's totally subjective.

But for example I may say: this answer is wrong, but it has too many downvotes, so I upvote it.Or instead: this answer is correct, but IMO it has received too many upvotes, so I downvote it.Do you think it's a bad criteria? Should I do it?

PS: A totally subjective question, I'm not asking what's worth by rules, rather what's worth standing to your personal judgement.

share|improve this question
I've addressed the points you specifically made in an answer, however this (as asked) really is not that constructive. What you're basically asking is "I know the guidelines, but sometimes don't follow them. How about you?" .. unless I'm misunderstanding your question. –  Tim Post Dec 26 '12 at 4:38
I didn't say that I have guidelines, usually I just do what I feel in the moment. –  Ramy Al Zuhouri Dec 26 '12 at 4:39
add comment

closed as not constructive by Makoto, Tim Post Dec 26 '12 at 4:38


2 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Ultimately, your votes are your votes. You do with them what you want, but please do use some discretion when doing so (at the very least, don't randomly upvote/downvote a ton of things, or your votes may be overturned).

I think that your approach isn't correct; an upvote to an answer implies that you're promoting it; a downvote to an answer implies that you feel that it's incorrect. If you're downvoting answers because they have "too many" upvotes, then that doesn't seem right - it makes the point of downvoting moot. Conversely, if you upvote an answer that has too many downvotes, then you're (potentially) reinforcing an incorrect answer or misinformation, which makes upvoting moot.

Again, your votes are yours, no one can tell you what to do with them, but you would want to use some discretion with them.

share|improve this answer
add comment

Addressing your points:

this answer is wrong, but it has too many downvotes, so I upvote it

Please, don't do that. Up-voting purely for sympathy not only skews the usefulness of voting, it gives reputation that wasn't there. Down votes cost the author 2 rep, up voting rewards 10. By being sympathetic, you're giving them 8 rep that wasn't there before.


Please, don't do that either. It's the reverse of the above with the same initial consequence.

While your votes are your own, they help more when you cast them based solely on the quality and technical merits of a post. They become unhelpful or even harmful if you cast your votes based on:

  • The author of the post
  • The amount of votes a post has received
  • Any other 'meta' circumstance surrounding the post
  • The phase of the moon

Our job as voters is not to run some kind of 'adjustment bureau', it's to ensure the best quality rises naturally to the top so it's quickly found by people that need it. That's precisely what voting is designed to accomplish, so please keep the end in sight while considering the means.

share|improve this answer
I didn't understand this: why did you answer if you think that the question has to be closed? –  Ramy Al Zuhouri Dec 26 '12 at 14:09
I felt that the points you raised really needed to be addressed by a moderator, which is why I addressed them specifically. The question seems to be 'what does everyone else do with their votes?' after explaining what you sometimes do with your own. It was flagged as non-constructive, and I agreed. Did I misinterpret the question? –  Tim Post Dec 26 '12 at 14:25
'what does everyone else do with their votes?' is strictly related with 'what does everyone think is worth to do?'.The second one is the precise answer that I did.Btw your answer is fine, I'm not saying about the answer, but about the closure. –  Ramy Al Zuhouri Dec 26 '12 at 14:39
I don't see the distinction you're making. If you feel really strongly that this should be re-opened, I'll do it. However, I don't think the response would be very positive, and feel it would probably be closed again quickly. Can you perhaps edit for clarity? –  Tim Post Dec 26 '12 at 14:54
Makoto's and your answer are fine enough, I don't need more answers, thus it's not so important to reopen it.I just wanted to clarify this. –  Ramy Al Zuhouri Dec 26 '12 at 15:02
add comment

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .