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Remove vote buttons?

  • Yes

    Votes: 219 29.3%
  • No

    Votes: 387 51.8%
  • Like Button Only

    Votes: 119 15.9%
  • Other

    Votes: 22 2.9%

  • Total voters
    747
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I think you either need no voting or both up/down. It was much better when you could see, as people have said, inaccurate posts at a glance. The abuse it received was few and far between.
 
When you see every post by a particular poster downvoted regardless of its content, and those posts contain no statement of opinions, but only factual answers to questions, there is obviously an abuse of downvoting. I have seen this happen on numerous occasions. As an example, look at post #781 in this thread, along with the upvotes supporting it. Notice that no reference was made to downvoting posts based on content, but rather based on who posted them. That's exactly what I'm talking about. If someone posts an opinion, downvote or upvote to your heart's content. That's fair game. However, if you're accurately answering questions for newbies and giving facts, not opinions, downvoting is inappropriate and potentially misleading to the newbies reading the advice given.

Not that I read every thread in every forum, but personally, I've never seen a factual and accurate post accumulate excessive downvotes. And whle I've noticed some posters whose posts tend to get voted down regularly, it's been because they regularly posted inane / inarticulate content.

I'm not exactly disbelieving that the phenomena you describe has never happened, but if it was a widespread problem, then how is it that I've not experienced it? Could it be that it happens more in some sections than others?
 
Could it be that it happens more in some sections than others?
Yes, that's possible. Or you may not have been targeted, so you might not notice. I've seen several members targeted by blanket downvotes at different times, myself included. While I don't care if someone up or downvotes my posts, my concern is that it can mislead newbies seeking help when a factual answer to their question is downvoted, simply because someone holds a childish grudge or bias against a poster.
 
When you see every post by a particular poster downvoted regardless of its content, and those posts contain no statement of opinions, but only factual answers to questions, there is obviously an abuse of downvoting. I have seen this happen on numerous occasions. As an example, look at post #781 in this thread, along with the upvotes supporting it. Notice that no reference was made to downvoting posts based on content, but rather based on who posted them. That's exactly what I'm talking about. If someone posts an opinion, downvote or upvote to your heart's content. That's fair game. However, if you're accurately answering questions for newbies and giving facts, not opinions, downvoting is inappropriate and potentially misleading to the newbies reading the advice given.

Yes, that's possible. Or you may not have been targeted, so you might not notice. I've seen several members targeted by blanket downvotes at different times, myself included. While I don't care if someone up or downvotes my posts, my concern is that it can mislead newbies seeking help when a factual answer to their question is downvoted, simply because someone holds a childish grudge or bias against a poster.


Yeah, I know I said I was done. This is my last post, honest. :D

So you've been targeted? Maybe you ought to think about why people on a random Internet forum would want to target you. Perhaps it wasn't a problem with too much downvoting but one of too much posting. Just a thought.
 
So you've been targeted? Maybe you ought to think about why people on a random Internet forum would want to target you. Perhaps it wasn't a problem with too much downvoting but one of too much posting. Just a thought.
Define "too much posting". There is no forum rule limiting the number of people you can help or the number of questions you can answer.
 
Yes, that's possible. Or you may not have been targeted, so you might not notice. I've seen several members targeted by blanket downvotes at different times, myself included. While I don't care if someone up or downvotes my posts, my concern is that it can mislead newbies seeking help when a factual answer to their question is downvoted, simply because someone holds a childish grudge or bias against a poster.

Like I said, I haven't noticed any factual posts accumulating that many downvotes. It'd have to be not just one poster, but many posters having grudges against an individual to accumulate downvotes –- I just haven't seen it happen. Posts getting a few undeserved downvotes, yes, I notice that, and I upvoted them when I see that. But so many that it misleads newbies?

I don't know if the mods can edit the votes, but if it's a problem, they could be notified, and handle the situation if they think intervention is warranted. I just can't believe this was such a widespread problem that the entire voting system needed to be changed because of it.
 
Never had many downvotes on my messages but still I approve this move. I'll paste my response from other thread.

About downvotes - great. I like it. Everyone has right to say whatever they want. Just because opinion is unpopular doesn't mean it should be ignored. And that's exactly what happens when you allow a bunch of teenagers to express their opinion with thumb down. Proper opinions are sometimes downvoted just because readers are too lazy to actually check if certain statements are true or not.

Downvotes are one of the pillars of hivemind. Demolish it, I say.
 
As an example, look at post #781 in this thread, along with the upvotes supporting it.
That doesn't define too much posting, but rather a few individuals' bias. If you or anyone finds any of my posts in violation of forum rules, report it. You should spend some time looking at the content of my posts, and not just the quantity. You'll find the vast majority are answering questions and helping people.
 
That doesn't define too much posting, but rather a few individuals' bias. If you or anyone finds any of my posts in violation of forum rules, report it. You should spend some time looking at the content of my posts, and not just the quantity. You'll find the vast majority are answering questions and helping people.


You say bias, I say too much posting.

If only there were a way for forum members to register their disapproval, if any, in post #781.
 
You say bias, I say too much posting.
You still haven't defined what you consider "too much posting". There have been other members with much higher post counts than mine, until recently. There are also other members who have had higher post frequency than mine. Do you consider them to have posted too much? You have posted over 25,000 posts. Do you consider that too much? Where is the line that defines too much posting?
 
As an example, look at post #781 in this thread, along with the upvotes supporting it. Notice that no reference was made to downvoting posts based on content, but rather based on who posted them.

Do you really think everyone who upvoted that was being serious?
 
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You still haven't defined what you consider "too much posting". There have been other members with much higher post counts than mine, until recently.

True, but they've been members for a lot longer.


There are also other members who have had higher post frequency than mine. Do you consider them to have posted too much?

Yes.


You have posted over 25,000 posts. Do you consider that too much?

Yes, but I've been here 9 years and was unemployed for almost 2 years. What's your excuse?


Where is the line that defines too much posting?

At the meeting point of your 478th post on the state of virus on the Mac platform, your 873rd telling people how to search and your 377th of being rude to new members.




Do you really think everyone who upvoted that was being serious?

I most certainly do. :D
 
Do you really think everyone who upvoted that was being serious?
I'm sure some were, and some may not have been. The issue isn't whether someone up or down votes my posts in particular, but whether they downvote any post that contains a factual, helpful answer to a question, simply because they dislike the poster. If there was a way to vote on a user's profile, I wouldn't care how many up or down votes I might get, as I'm not here to be popular; I'm here to be helpful to those who need help.

The issue is people downvoting any post based on something other than the merits of the post itself.
True, but they've been members for a lot longer.

Yes.

Yes, but I've been here 9 years and was unemployed for almost 2 years. What's your excuse?

At the meeting point of your 478th post on the state of virus on the Mac platform, your 873rd telling people how to search and your 377th of being rude to new members.
So in other words, you have a completely arbitrary set of criteria that you use to determine "posting too much". It's certainly your right to have that opinion, but the forum doesn't recognize your criteria. Again, if you find any post to be in violation of forum rules, report it. As for repetitive posts, if you answer repetitive questions, you'll end up with repetitive posts. That's unavoidable.
 
It's surprising to see all of these odd politics. It's like discovering the MR underworld.

What is the approved way of dealing with the situation when the same question is asked over and over again, sometimes a couple of times a day?

I also didn't realise that posting too much in a day was looked down upon on this forum. Is there a number of posts per day that we should strive towards so that we do not raise the ire of long-time members?

Perhaps the admins should implement a daily post limit on all members registered after a certain year or perhaps once you've answered a recurring question you need to wait 24 hours before being able to answer it again?
 
It's surprising to see all of these odd politics. It's like discovering the MR underworld.

What is the approved way of dealing with the situation when the same question is asked over and over again, sometimes a couple of times a day?

I also didn't realise that posting too much in a day was looked down upon on this forum. Is there a number of posts per day that we should strive towards so that we do not raise the ire of long-time members?

Perhaps the admins should implement a daily post limit on all members registered after a certain year or perhaps once you've answered a recurring question you need to wait 24 hours before being able to answer it again?
It appears that most members won't encounter such prejudices until their post count becomes high enough to threaten those who already have high post counts and who are preoccupied with placing undue value on such meaningless trivia. It also appears that those who are criticizing frequent posters are themselves guilty of the crime of having high post counts or frequency. Truly a case of the pot calling the kettle black. Therein lies the source of some of the inappropriate downvotes of posts that otherwise don't merit downvotes.
 
Since the down vote button went away, I have seen more posts deserving a down vote than in all of my time lurking here before that. I understand why it's gone, but still. At times it was a very useful tool...
 
I don't want to comment on what's been discussed by members running this forum as I don't think it's any of my business, I just want to comment that, the fact of the matter guys is that 50% want them to stay as they are, 30% want them to go, and instead of the 80% choice getting their way a bastardized half measure between the two has been instigated that I think at the end of the day pleases no one, or at best just a tiny minority. ..
 
I think it's silly to just be able to vote something up and not down. Here's why.

Objective points:
- People don't only have positive opinions, why only represent this?
- A discussion forum should acknowledge more than just positive opinions.
- Without downvoting and only upvoting a neutral (0) post might be considered "minus" instead, this happens on Facebook - "Why didn't you upvote this, does this mean people DO NOT like it?" - meaning that neutral posts are gone, it's divided into "good posts" and "not good posts".
- Macrumors is NOT Facebook and thank heavens for that.
- The +X and -X often work as good indicators, for example on the first post in a thread, whether or not the thread is viable or not - on this forum especially people are often in consensus about things like this, more so than anywhere else I've been.
- All past posts that have -X votes will not make sense to new members.
- People who argue "If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all" - on the playground where manners matter I agree, on a discussion forum that circulates and exist due to discussions and opinions - sadly no.

Subjective points:
- THE thing I liked the most about the Macrumors forums were the ability to downvote, I rated this higher than the general crowd of very serious and "normal" people, even more so than the lack of personal attacks and general lack of spam-threads.
- I hate Facebook with a passion, one of the big reasons to this is the ability to only being able to "Like" and not "Dislike". This causes, like I mentioned above, neutral opinions to completely disappear, it transforms into "either you like something or you don't".
- I sometimes vote something down instead of quoting and writing a comment about it. Not sure others do this as well, but I presume as much, in which case the downvoting button servers as a buffer system that partly eliminates negative and hateful posts that in many cases surely are completely unneccessary.

Side Note:
- One thing that COULD be improved for the old plus and minus voting system is splitting it up into how many plus votes there are and how many minus votes there are. For example - If a post have +8 and -8 it shows as neutral, which is all good, but in my opinon it should be shown that very different opinions affect this particular post. I think overall voting is a very simple yet effective way to show opinions.

Conclusion:
- Please bring back the down voting button, or don't have a voting system at all.
 
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Since the down vote button went away, I have seen more posts deserving a down vote than in all of my time lurking here before that. I understand why it's gone, but still. At times it was a very useful tool...

I really don't understand why it's gone. ALL forums online, or comment sections have both up and downvotes or none at all. There's a reason for that. I don't get why mr wants to play it differently here, and I also don't get why 80% of the public user opinion on this has to be ignored.
 
I really don't understand why it's gone. ALL forums online, or comment sections have both up and downvotes or none at all. There's a reason for that. I don't get why mr wants to play it differently here, and I also don't get why 80% of the public user opinion on this has to be ignored.

People whine about their feelings getting hurt when they shouldn't be posting in the first place if a little down arrow is going to upset them. As far as I can tell that's why it went away.

But yeah the ignoring of public opinion is confusing me a bit too. The no votes alone are over 50% now.
 
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