How are we to interpret a thumbs up and a thumbs down?

Question

What are we to make of a Vote, How should we feel about the up vote and the down Vote.

Some times I feel bad when I get a down Vote,
How should I feel.

Answer 1

i take it with a grain of salt-meaning not personally -lots of kids on here just playing

Answer 2

When this system was instituted on Yahoo!Answers, its original purpose was semi-economic, much like the point system as a whole. The idea was that since staff couldn't be everywhere and personally reward appropriate behaviour, we would help them out (like the reporting system, too).

A thumbs-up was intended to designate the kind of answer that should be on the site: thorough without being too long, informative, and helpful. A thumbs-down was intended to designate the kind of answer that should NOT be on the site: off-topic, grossly opinionated (unless that was what was asked for), insulting, and so on.

Of course nowadays it has warped a bit. Some people thumbs-up answers they agree with and thumbs-down ones they don't, as if this were 'American Idol' or 'Survivor' or something. Some people thumbs-down every answer to a question but their own, hoping it will help them win. And trolls, of course, just like to thumbs-down people in the hope that it makes them feel bad.

So don't worry too much if you got a thumbs-down... it could very easily have been given to you for reasons having nothing whatsoever to do with your answer. If you want to feel something about it, take it as a challenge to improve yourself!

Answer 3

It's supposed to be for accuracy, but can be anything, even a mistake, so I want to apologize. I did make a mistake once or twice and I couldn't take it back. I feel bad too, so I just don't go back. When you see how arbitrary they are, thought, you start to not care too much. Sometimes it means you reached the right people and maybe enlightened them beyond their wishes. People with bad attitudes suffer with them their whole lives. You only have to put up with them for a few minutes. I sometimes feel compassion for ignorance or cynicism. A negative view of life is a terrible thing to have. I should know. I'm glad I'm mostly past that. For someone looking for negative attention, I give no rating so as not to give it to them.

Answer 4

Everybody has their own ideas of what constitutes a good or bad answer. I tend to give thumbs up to people who show that they put some thought into their answers and thumbs down to people who are off point or just argumentative without a good argument.

I answer a lot of questions that I know are from or going to draw a lot of trolls. I take those thumbs down as a badge of honor.

Answer 5

Any three year old kid knows what thumbs up and thumbs down means. The gestures of our fingers simply say that thumbs up goes for an approval and thumbs down for disapproval. The same will also refer to okay and not okay or agree and disagree. Litererally the thumbs up goes for the positive and thumbs down for a negative. The emotional feeling of sadness of getting a thumbs down is a natural feeling for a person who doesn't expect such rating. It is only natural however this also gives you a challenge to strive for the better. Whatever your feeling will be is a natural feeling of a person regardless of the consequence will it be.

Answer 6

In all sincerity, I "award" these ONLY when deserved, and I trust that most people do so too. It is merely a way of expressing a succint comment upon the answer to which a thumbs up or down is given . . . BUT it is entirely subjective - only the giver's own opinion!

Answer 7

You shouldn't feel badly unless you were intentionally baiting someone or being mean spirited or ignorant. Especially here in R&S, people just thumbs down those who have different beliefs on religion then they do. How can your personal religious beliefs and outlooks be wrong? People don't seem to understand that when it comes to matters of faith different people have different perspectives and each is personal not provable.

Answer 8

I usually only give a down vote if someone is blatantly being an A**.
If you give your honest opinion and someone else doesn't agree, that's not worthy of a bad vote........
Being a smarta** and criticizing someone's question is.

JMHO.

Answer 9

don't take things seriously. everything is subjective. you can't please everyone. what you can do is count the up votes versus the down votes though. my opinion is that you should lessen asking questions that are "controversial". that's what usually gets the down votes.

Answer 10

ya let me down ya let me down- thumbs down