poll Should NP downvoting be anonymous?

[redemo]

Simple question. Do you think downvoting and upvoting should be anonymous on Namepros, yes or no?

 

[Paul]

No. The biggest argument against anonymisation is that it allows people to avoid taking responsibility for their actions.

Agreed, but you can't have accountability without transparency. One is a prerequisite for the other.

Who cares about misinformation.
You have completely missed the point.

This is going back to responsibility, accountability, and transparency. It's hard to hold people accountable when they're anonymous.

Looking at the top downvoters, I suspect there's quite a bit of correlation between people who are downvoted and people who downvote others. That's a concerning cycle of toxicity indicating that anonymous voting doesn't work.

 

[bmugford]

Downvoting options should be disabled.

Most of the downvotes came from people who are complaining about downvoting in this thread. That seems to be a common occurrence.

Agreed, but you can't have accountability without transparency. One is a prerequisite for the other.

This is going back to responsibility, accountability, and transparency. It's hard to hold people accountable when they're anonymous.

Looking at the top downvoters, I suspect there's quite a bit of correlation between people who are downvoted and people who downvote others. That's a concerning cycle of toxicity indicating that anonymous voting doesn't work.

Paul,

Would you agree that certain people and/or subjects receive a disproportionate amount of downvotes?

Isn't there any way to just disable downvotes going forward?

That way you would not have to disclose the previous downvote data, but at the same time also not carry on the same system going forward.

There is still the dislike / disagree option, or just leaving a comment.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

This guy opened a thread with ca 20 replies.
They massacred him

Show attachment 244730

Show attachment 244731

What did he wrong?
What are those trolls disagreeing with?

I agree. This is basically a new domain investor, and they have a -8 for simply asking a question?

Then another -10 for asking a question?

What did they do wrong?

You will notice I have multiple responses in that thread.

The OP seemed like they were genuinely interested in learning and were courteous.

This negative downvote system really hurts meaningful engagement IMO.

@Paul

Brad

 

[Lox]

Isn't there any way to just disable downvotes going forward?

Nope.

This DownFu* is getting a lot of people out of NPs (X). “Maybes“ are not going to end this …. and if the management doesn’t want to recognize the outcome … then, in a year-two there is no more NamePros … Let’s see

Seriously …

Regards

 

[Samer]

Most of the downvotes came from people who are complaining about downvoting in this thread. That seems to be a common occurrence.

It was me.
I wanted someone to talk about downvoting.
I undid my -5, your move, @Paul.

Stop empowering anon bullies and shills —

 

[Samer]

You should be ashamed at allowing anon downvotes.

Empower toxic cowards.

 

[Samer]

I agree. This is basically a new domain investor, and they have a -8 for simply asking a question?

Then another -10 for asking a question?

What did they do wrong?

You will notice I have multiple responses in that thread.

The OP seemed like they were genuinely interested in learning and were courteous.

This negative downvote system really hurts meaningful engagement IMO.

@Paul

Brad

It was a great thread, many intelligent replies, highest reply got a +14, no reason OP should be at -8 (now -3)

@Paul, this feature makes no sense; backwards logic.

 

[bmugford]

Nope.

This DownFu* is getting a lot of people out of NPs (X). “Maybes“ are not going to end this …. and if the management doesn’t want to recognize the outcome … then, in a year-two there is no more NamePros … Let’s see

Seriously …

Regards

It was me.
I wanted someone to talk about downvoting.
I undid my -5, your move, @Paul.

Stop empowering anon bullies and shills —

I really preferred the thanks / like / agree / dislike / disagree system without any anonymous voting period.

Even then (and now), I rarely click dislike or disagree. I would rather leave a comment than doing that, and certainly over leaving anonymous downvotes.

I think that system encouraged more dialogue via actual comments than just leaving anonymous votes.

Brad

 

[Samer]

I really preferred the thanks / like / agree / dislike / disagree system without any anonymous voting period.

Even then (and now), I rarely click dislike or disagree. I would rather leave a comment than doing that, and certainly over leaving anonymous downvotes.

I think that system encouraged more dialogue via actual comments than just leaving anonymous votes.

Brad

I believe in positive thoughts and emotions.
If you want to be a toxic anonymous tool; NP shouldnt enable you with anonymous cloak.

Begs the question; and my favorite debate; “Remove all negative actions?” No. But put your name to it.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I really preferred the thanks / like / agree / dislike / disagree system without any anonymous voting period.

Even then (and now), I rarely click dislike or disagree. I would rather leave a comment than doing that, and certainly over leaving anonymous downvotes.

I think that system encouraged more dialogue via actual comments than just leaving anonymous votes.

I tend to agree with the view expressed a bit ago by @bmugford and others in this thread about the anonymous dislike voting being negative to the community, and not, that I can see, serving any useful purpose. It seems, as case noted, that some are particularly hard on newcomers simply asking questions.

I personally would probably prefer a system that we take out dislike altogether. Also, that it be suggested that anyone leaving a disagree should add a comment briefly explaining why they disagree. I have no problem with people expressing disagreement, and it is valuable to counter ideas that are expressed by may not be sound, but to be helpful in a forum surely it is better to share why you disagree.

-Bob

 

[MAINNET]

I tend to agree with the view expressed a bit ago by @bmugford and others in this thread about the anonymous dislike voting being negative to the community, and not, that I can see, serving any useful purpose. It seems, as case noted, that some are particularly hard on newcomers simply asking questions.

I personally would probably prefer a system that we take out dislike altogether. Also, that it be suggested that anyone leaving a disagree should add a comment briefly explaining why they disagree. I have no problem with people expressing disagreement, and it is valuable to counter ideas that are expressed by may not be sound, but to be helpful in a forum surely it is better to share why you disagree.

-Bob

You’re spot on @Bobhawkes! The fact it has gone this long without being addressed is an indicator there could be more at play here. I totally agree with the disagree button and having to provide a brief statement about why you disagree for context purposes. With all due respect, NamePros is really showing its age and priority in this matter. It’s 2023; and regular updates to one of the only domain forums in the industry should be a given. Yet, it doesn’t seem to be.

This downvote situation is putting the proverbial nail in the coffin of a platform that could, and should, be a leader in domain education. Tolerating “downvotes on questions” is fostering a “read-only” environment. One where the primary voices are those with badges and elite member status. NOT GOOD. The “.com only rhetoric”, “pigeon poop talk”, “attacks on alternative views” and “The Downvote Gang” won’t give Namepros much of a leg to stand on moving forward.

It’s a bit disheartening…….and with this post will likely come a slew of unnecessary downvotes. But hey, it’s what NamePros allows.

Mel
QUAD Domains

 

[MAINNET]

@bobhawkes

Here’s another example of the downvote ridiculousness here on NamePros:

New user joins forum.

QUAD literally says “Greetings!” and it has -2 downvotes…..so far. (See attachment.)

Folks are literally downvoting a welcoming statement. Imagine what impression this leaves on new users about who’s who on the platform. This is entertainment at this point for the folks running NamePros apparently. Because of things like this, “The Downvote Gang” will soon become “The Downvote Mob” acting under the guise of being “NamePros”. #counterintuitive.

Mel
QUAD Domains

 

[LoveCatchyDomains]

Question for moderator @Bravo Mod Team
Why you start a thread and then turn it into an ask paul anything thread?
Quad, being a minus means you have made quite an impact.
Keep posting you will get to minus xxxx
Then you will be worth something

Sometimes, though, it's best to not take the downvotes too personally. The implication in that case is that the response didn't really have content. It's better to simply do a like or thanks button, rather than perhaps a comment that is a general greeting.
Nonetheless, it is interesting that sometimes members with signficant downvotes have a useful comment that gets them into trouble. And the comments may be worthwhile seriously considering, even if not popular.

 

[MAINNET]

Sometimes, though, it's best to not take the downvotes too personally. The implication in that case is that the response didn't really have content. It's better to simply do a like or thanks button, rather than perhaps a comment that is a general greeting.
Nonetheless, it is interesting that sometimes members with signficant downvotes have a useful comment that gets them into trouble. And the comments may be worthwhile seriously considering, even if not popular.

Thanks for chiming in @LoveCatchyDomains!

The sheer possibility that posting “Greetings!” when someone introduces themselves would go against an unspoken forum etiquette is rather ridiculous. Especially considering there are far more concerning things that are stated here on the regular.

It’s increasingly clear that being too positive elicits more negative downvotes on NamePros. It’s definitely not something to lose sleep over; but it does make one ponder the real life implications of people believing things like this are somehow fine professionally.

Mel
QUAD Domains

 

[Paul]

Would you agree that certain people and/or subjects receive a disproportionate amount of downvotes?

Not as much as I expected. However, if we instead look at the people giving the downvotes (rather than receiving them), then we see that a small percentage of people are responsible for the overwhelming majority of downvotes. They’re relatively indiscriminate in who they downvote.

You should be ashamed at allowing anon downvotes.

That’s not a helpful argument.

Personally, I’m strongly opposed to anonymous downvotes and am in favor of immediately opening them until such time as we are able to implement a better solution. I’m not the sole decision maker at NamePros.

I’m not in favor of removing downvotes: I think that’s useful feedback, and there’s nothing wrong with posting sometime controversial. We don’t have to weight downvotes as heavily as upvotes; that’s a knob we can tune until we hit a sweet spot.

 

[bmugford]

The sheer possibility that posting “Greetings!” when someone introduces themselves would go against an unspoken forum etiquette is rather ridiculous. Especially considering there are far more concerning things that are stated here on the regular.

This type of thing is a problem.

Why would anyone get downvotes for that comment?

There are a lot of things @QUAD DOMAINS posts that I don't really agree with, but is leads to a discussion.

Just leaving downvotes, especially for a "Greetings" comment, is unreasonable.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

Not as much as I expected. However, if we instead look at the people giving the downvotes (rather than receiving them), then we see that a small percentage of people are responsible for the overwhelming majority of downvotes. They’re relatively indiscriminate in who they downvote.

Well, you have access to data that I don't.

How many people are abusing the system? Is that one person, 5, 10, 100, 500? I have no idea.

It does seem like some people and subjects are targeted more than others from my view.

I’m not in favor of removing downvotes: I think that’s useful feedback, and there’s nothing wrong with posting sometime controversial. We don’t have to weight downvotes as heavily as upvotes; that’s a knob we can tune until we hit a sweet spot.

Alright, then let's start there.

There are multiple possible solutions from minor to major.

Right now the amount up upvotes and downvotes you can leave is based on a number of factors.

Am I right that if you can leave 5 upvotes, you can also leave 5 downvotes?

Why not make it so you can leave less downvotes, or make it so they just count for less.

Maybe you can leave 25%-50% of the downvotes you can with upvotes, or maybe they are just counted like that.

It seems like that would be a good starting point. People can still leave downvotes, but they are not weighted as heavily.

Brad

 

[Peter45]

Sometimes, though, it's best to not take the downvotes too personally.

You are missing the point LCD

It's not about personal feelings, it's about improving the forum's quality.
Mod Paul's reference to "feelings" - justifying the status quo in order to protect the feelings of those Gold accounts and Vip members who desire anonymity - unfortunately has highjacked the discussion:

That one person is still a human with feelings. Part of the job of a moderation team--or any oversight body--is to protect the minority from the majority. Several people have expressed concern about their votes suddenly becoming public, and those concerns are both understandable and justified, regardless of what we've stated our plans are.

The main question is whether anon downvoting improve the discussion within this community.
It is abundantly clear that it doesn't.

a) Your disagreeing with an opinion without saying why, is pointless.
The community doesn't learn nothing from your downvoting.

b) As soon as a posting contains more than 1 statement downvoting that posting means squat because the community cannot understand what is disagreed with.

But the worst part is, given a) and b) anon downvoting has become a way to hit people: the target of anonymous downvoting has shifted from the content of a posting to the attitude i.e. the character of the poster.

That's the main reason why anon downvoting hinders the discussion within this community.

 

[Peter45]

This type of thing is a problem.

Why would anyone get downvotes for that comment?

There are a lot of things @QUAD DOMAINS posts that I don't really agree with, but is leads to a discussion.

Just leaving downvotes, especially for a "Greetings" comment, is unreasonable.

Brad

There a thousands of examples showing how ridiculous this tool is


This guy informed the community about an email he received from DAN re their connection with Afternic.
He didn't say anything, he just posted the email.

"Well, I don't like Dan's integration within Afternic, so I'll give a thumb down.
Click.
There you go."

These 4 morons didn't realise that downvoting a posting you are penalising its poster.

Through this dysfunctional tool this community has penalised someone who did us a favour

 

[bmugford]

There a thousands of examples showing how ridiculous this tool is


This guy informed the community about an email he received from DAN re their connection with Afternic.
He didn't say anything, he just posted the email.

Show attachment 244986

"Well, I don't like Dan's integration within Afternic, so I'll give a thumb down.
Click.
There you go."

These 4 morons didn't realise that downvoting a posting you are penalising its poster.

Through this dysfunctional tool this community has penalised someone who did us a favour

Meanwhile, you got -3 for discussing downvotes.

The current system has issues.