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I found the first answer insightful: https://meta.stackoverflow.com/a/252340/1862046 https://meta.stackoverflow.com/a/252340/1862046 Roughly, it seems downvote
by mLuby 7y ago
I found the first answer insightful: https://meta.stackoverflow.com/a/252340/1862046 https://meta.stackoverflow.com/a/252340/1862046
Roughly, it seems downvotes are used by people to indicate not enough effort has gone into the question (easily researched, duplicate question, confusing/poor english, etc).
So either all unflagged questions is valid and should be nurtured into clear, well-written queries or pointed to existing questions, or questions are to be judged* "good-faith" or "lazy" by users and the latter receive downvotes.
*This judgement is fixed in time; the question is not necessarily re-judged if improvements are made.
- aflag 7y agoWhat's the problem with being lazy? If you are even lazier, just don't answer. If it's a duplicate, just link it to the delicate question. Having useless questions shouldn't be a problem while searching for answers.
- waisbrot 7y agoThe problem is that just looking through the queue of unanswered questions takes effort. If I have a list of good, honestly-asked questions, I'm willing to look for a few that I know how to answer and answer them. If I have a vast pile of "plz do this homework for me [transcribed question with errors or link to a private PDF]" then I just won't use Stack Overflow.
- mLuby 7y agoThat's what flagging is for. Why don't people flag more?
- aflag 7y agoAll SO tags I've ever followed the number of people answering is greater than the people asking, so that's not really an issue, I think. Although, maybe, it felt that way due to down voting. The case you described is easy to identify and you can just leave a comment, which will be useful to both: other people answering questions and the person asking. Different from the down vote.
- PunksATawnyFill 7y agoYes, the truly lazy questions clutter up the site and I guess we need a way to cull them. But on the other hand, I resent having to couch every question with 5x the verbiage as a disclaimer to chronicle every little thing I did to investigate the problem before asking the question. I also enjoy being whined at by moderators if you call out someone who's being a dick. Don't bitch at the person doing YOUR job; bitch at the person who made it necessary.