So I had to waste rep down-voting answers that never should have seen the light of day.
Eh, I don't usually bother with downvoting, unless something is particularly bad. There are plenty of people about, especially those with 10K+, who feel it their civic duty to downvote everyone and anyone who so much as breathes "improperty", so I'll let them be the negative ones.
I understand the purpose of the downvote, but I also believe it is the core reason StackOverflow is such a negative place. 9 times out of 10, it's used to slap people for not doing things "right" (and by "right", I mean how the reader expects them to do it). The community has repeatedly shot down every proposal to introduce some simple accountability into downvote reasons, citing "we have the right to downvote for any reason without having to answer for it," which further reinforces my theory that, to put it bluntly, the main purpose of downvotes is bullying.
On the flip side, you have users who don't care to learn or understand how the community is supposed to work. They are a definitive menace, mucking up the place with noise and garbage. This in turn prompts the downvote-happy curmudgeons to do more downvoting and comment sniping, which makes the lazy users angrier. In the end, it's a vicious cycle.
All in all, I rather regard StackOverflow to have the social dynamic of a bad middle school, with its three camps: the popular snobs, the scofflaw rogues, and the small band of well-meaning outsiders who are hated by both groups.
Sad to say, I haven't asked a question on there in years, and I doubt I ever will again. I rarely even venture an answer. Instead, I pour my energy into dev.to and Freenode IRC's #python, ##c++-friendly, and #learnprogramming channels.
// , “It is not so important to be serious as it is to be serious about the important things. The monkey wears an expression of seriousness... but the monkey is serious because he itches."(No/No)
Eh, I don't usually bother with downvoting, unless something is particularly bad. There are plenty of people about, especially those with 10K+, who feel it their civic duty to downvote everyone and anyone who so much as breathes "improperty", so I'll let them be the negative ones.
I understand the purpose of the downvote, but I also believe it is the core reason StackOverflow is such a negative place. 9 times out of 10, it's used to slap people for not doing things "right" (and by "right", I mean how the reader expects them to do it). The community has repeatedly shot down every proposal to introduce some simple accountability into downvote reasons, citing "we have the right to downvote for any reason without having to answer for it," which further reinforces my theory that, to put it bluntly, the main purpose of downvotes is bullying.
On the flip side, you have users who don't care to learn or understand how the community is supposed to work. They are a definitive menace, mucking up the place with noise and garbage. This in turn prompts the downvote-happy curmudgeons to do more downvoting and comment sniping, which makes the lazy users angrier. In the end, it's a vicious cycle.
All in all, I rather regard StackOverflow to have the social dynamic of a bad middle school, with its three camps: the popular snobs, the scofflaw rogues, and the small band of well-meaning outsiders who are hated by both groups.
Sad to say, I haven't asked a question on there in years, and I doubt I ever will again. I rarely even venture an answer. Instead, I pour my energy into dev.to and Freenode IRC's
#python,##c++-friendly, and#learnprogrammingchannels.Ahem. Some of us prefer the term rapscallions.
I try to diversify into curmudgeon as well, but downvoting is just not creative enough curmudgeonery for my taste.