What is the significance of Thumbs Ups and Thumbs Downs.?

Question

I am really unaware regarding this system.
Are these ups and downs have any importance?
Can they brinng us happiness or unhappiness really?
This question can be related with the BEST ANSWER also
Is the POINT is so powerfull tool; which can destroy the peace of mind and love among friends??
Can we easily reject the idea of POINT system?
What is there hidden really when anyone gets ultimate place in Yahoo Answers?
Really I am unaware of this system.

Friends, Please guide me.

Answer 1

it's just a way to show your appreciation or liking an answer, and also to show that for some reason you do not like the answer (there could be many reasons) Both without having to say anything directly.

I give them when i feel they deserve it. When a person is offensive, I give that particular answer a thumbs down. I do not follow a persons answers and regardless of what they say give them thumbs down. That's like hating the person not the crime. not right.

When I appreciate the answer I give thumbs up.

Also they do not give or take away your points. the only ones that give you points are when you have best answer, and you can get up to 50 points, one point per thumbs up.

if you get many thumbs down even on answers that should not, then it means you are popular, it means that someone is following you around and giving you thumbs down, or whenever they see you- without cause they say, 'oh, it's such and such person, who i had a previous bad dealing with I HATE that person, automatic thumbs down' just ignore this.

Then again, some people think the words that come from their fingertips are all like gold, they do not realize that what they say may not be proper, and may be offending others. Perhaps a person who has many thumbs down should practice humility. Look within..

best answer is great because it causes motivation to give quality answers. Of course it is only the askers opinions of what is best answer, it doesn't mean it really is the best answer, just an opinion.

So it helps you to understand where a person is at. You can be selective in who you're answering. if you can tell if the person doesn't like your type of answers, you can waste less time there.

For example, I used to answer a lot of the atheists questions before, and some were not really asking, they were simply making a mockery. I quickly understood this seeing who they pick as best answer. It makes me realize that i do not need to waste my time with those particular people.

of course if you like to just talk, and discuss then who cares right?

peace to you, and to all who are over sensitive to these things....

Answer 2

Even "yahoo" understands the the thumbs up and down may have been a mistake. That's why there are no points taken away for thumbs down. For me it is just another way of filtering out the bigotry and hatred. I rarely vote this way unless it is noted that the person is there only to offend. Tell you what, in the upper right hand portion of your screen there are four sections. One is "forum". Click on that and type in "thumbs down" and you will be updated on and maybe enlightened with the answers there. Most people don't go there, I pop in when I'm bored here. In fact......

Answer 3

When the mind is challenged only then there is a thrill in a game like so bets or a reward .Without any reward it is very difficult to create a competition .So the yahoo bench has chosen this idea of giving the paticipants to ask ,answer or rate a question .The asker will feel good when he gets answers eventhough he is sacrificing 5 points. The answerer need not regret because he got 2 points . For the best answer there may be an anticipation .Thumsup and down you will feel like a evaluator in an exam .Thus so many false feelings are created and you are tempted again and again like a gambler. What I would like to say is this is a good forum to exchange our ideas if we create competition we are the losers I feel that if the point system is eliminated there will be less participants due to lack of thrill. But there will be harmony and free exchange of ideas ,\.The answers will be more honest and they will not be to impress the asker .Good idea.

Answer 4

Thumbs down usually just means you don't agree with the answer and occasionally that a truth has "hit home," and thumbs up generally mean agreement or support for the answer.

Answer 5

I don't have much awareness of it because I think it can be harmful to me to be obsessed with numbers when I could be providing thoughtful answers. I find the thumbs up and thumbs down thing very demoralizing and really try not to practice it myself. I think it only hurts more than it helps and I actually don't see why it's necessary. I have given technically correct answers about things such as yoga (I am an experienced practitioner and teacher) and I will get a thumbs down which never makes sense. Why would you want someone to get injured while executing a pose incorrectly? That's just one example. Or giving an honest answer about my spiritual life and then getting thumbs down. I try not to 'attach' myself to responses but I can feel sad at times. Namaste

Answer 6

How did you get to level 4 without working that out?
If you get best answer you get 10 points plus a point for each thumbs up you get.
If you don't like an answer you can give it a thumbs down to hide it. This is particularly useful for long boring answers.
That's about it.

Answer 7

To me , if i get thumbs down, I feel i miss something to learn. It doesn't mean that thumbs up means that my answer is right. I might also be wrong. But i learn from others. I don;t feel much in thumbs up and downs for answers.

Some people purposely make thumbs down to the person they don't like. So there is nothing to bother, If we come here for learning and to make others learn.

There are some stupid people asking the question to mind ourselves, why not they mind their work? So it shows they purposely come here to fight.

Edited: Why not i see chamunda's answer ??

Answer 8

To me, points make no difference at all & as for the thumbs... they should be taken with a pinch of salt. What really matters is what people say. Surely thats what we're all here for! Lets not give our thumbs so much importance, its whats in our hearts that counts.

Answer 9

Good honest question gets a star, good answer gets a thumbs up, bad answers get a thumbs down, though I quit giving thumbs down a couple months ago. Of course all that depends on the mentality of the giver.

Answer 10

I give thumbs up to answers that are thought out and thumbs down to answers that are, well dumb. Even though some are pretty well thought out I sometimes vote them down because I don't feel their point of view is valid.