Community Voting
Hi everyone. We’ve taken a closer look at what voting on posts and comments on Community means. It can be a little tricky to define the purpose and we’re also aware that it can vary from website to website.
Based on the results from the survey we did earlier in the year, there is some confusion about what a vote means here, and what the Community team should do with them. So we’ve got some voting basics to keep in mind when you’re wanting to show your reaction to a contribution:
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An upvote means you agree with, or support the sentiment, of the post/comment you are adding your positive vote to.
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Similarly, a downvote would mean the opposite and you’re disagreeing with the post/comment.
- Currently ‘downvoting’ on a post doesn’t do the same thing as reporting a post did on the old messageboards, but we’re notified and keep an eye on posts that receive a lot of downvotes to ensure they aren’t doing more harm than good.
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Currently the voting is cumulative, where the sum total of votes is displayed on the post or comment. This means the number next to the voting button is the number of upvotes minus the number of downvotes. Here are two examples, one showing a post with a positive vote count and one with a negative:
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If you’re ever concerned about inappropriate or worrying content in a post or comment, downvote and get in touch with us on Live chat.
- On your Community user profile, your total activity count includes the number of votes you’ve cast.
We hope this makes things clearer and encourages you to keep using the voting system.
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To be honest I am not so sure if the voting system is that good of an idea, its not really had much uptake from the community, I have also seen the situation where someone made a suggestion which picked up 2 down votes, and he got really upset, and wanted to start a witch hunt to find out who down voted him ( I got the blame initially because I said in the comments that I didn't agree with his idea, stated why, and got 2 up votes for trouble).
I question if this feature enhances the user experience or not, people who get down voted are going to be offended, which would be quite natural, people can down vote without having to justify their position, which then destroys any potential for discourse.
Absolutely keep the up vote button! I do want to just read something and just give a quick acknowledgement that I indeed like the sentiment, or someone has provided the perfect answer to a question, up voting feature is cool.
If you want to use Down Voting as a system of report objectionable posts, the just have a "report this post" Button instead.
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Hamish
Trade Me staff - Community team
Hi Simon, thanks for the feedback! We are going to continue to review voting and voting transparency, as well as looking into voting trends to determine our best options to try and keep things balanced for our members, so we will take that into consideration
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People don't agree with other people, all of the time, so of course a down-vote is necessary. It shows disagreement, but that shouldn't equate to having the post removed..
Voting and reporting are two different things. If a post is inappropriate, then there should be a 'report post' button.
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S Community SuperuserKia Ora All, I have to agree with Simon - Upvote sometimes can't be resisted and it's not all about whether you agree or not but the effort the person puts into the Comments/Post as well - In my short time in Community I see a few people test out the system in which the topic has an issue so they can report back with their own experience which often gives successful workaround results for the person Posting - this extra effort is invaluable & Thank you to the people who take the time to do this. The downvote - Yes we are diverse people & won't always agree however when there is a downvote I would like to understand why? - which part in particular so the person commenting learns a different view & can respond giving the downvote a greater understanding of their meaning. It's very easy to take written language out of context as cell ph texts often are - - enabling a discussion to evolve from different ideas, meaning, context would be of Great Value & Learning all round. The whole up/down voting - what are we - school children? Rewarded by a robot set of ticks Lol. I realise this is not a forum page as such but should it be for the information, comprehension, knowledge & learning growth? In a short time I have seen alot of reactions to downvotes like removing own posts - editing posts, several times in fact and days / wks / etc. apart as others disagree. You have to be so careful with peoples feelings and if others could comprehend the meaning behind a comment it could be so valuable. It's a shame also that people can hide behind a downvote - I for 1 don't understand why I keep getting downvotes for Thanking people on here - How does a Thank you for help or sharing get a downvote? A Thank you doesn't mean you agree or disagree - it makes people feel worthy and appreciated - some even turn from a down day (hence their post/comment issue) into a positive experience and a good day - where's the harm in that? Since I have attempted not using the voting system, I don't want to upset anyone however I've found there are just some comments I can't help but upvote. I feel you have to be really thick skinned to take the knocks in community Lol - Cheers.
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S Community SuperuserEdited
Kia Ora All, seriously tell me how 1 gets a downvote for asking a simple question? It's a very negative attitude coming through Community voting, a poor chap asks for comments both ways in his post being open to hearing/learning both sides & is awarded with a few downvotes although he is clearly open to & asking for opinions both ways! Again hiding behind downvotes does Community no favours. I see how & why members shy away from being involved I can't even comment - Cheers :o) - without getting a downvote. Lol sad.
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