There are two unstated assumptions underlying “helpful feedback” that need to be considered and re-evaluated. First, the assumption that ‘voting’ is an appropr

There are two unstated assumptions underlying “helpful feedback” that need to be considered and re-evaluated. First, the assumption that ‘voting’ is an appropriate and helpful form of social interaction with someone who has not expressly invited that participation from others. Second, the assumption that a group expression of a statement is emotionally equivalent to a single individual’s expression of the same statement. These are not universally shared assumptions, especially in open source.