I've been thinking this same thought for a long time now. IMO, getting a zero is pretty humiliating especially if you took the time to answer someone's question. Being ignored is one of the worst way to (punish) a question that is not up to snuff.

No. A lot of people recognise that the points system is a useless way to tell who's a ''good'' Bagger, and they rely more on the percentages to distinguish users from one another. Not having negative ratings would mean that users always had 100% positive ratings... which just wouldn't be reflective of what people thought. Though lately, with everybody's reluctance to hit the DR button and tendency to scream ''troll'' when they do get a DR, I'm not sure the percentages accurately reflect the quality of a user's content as much as they used to.

I honestly feel that the negative button should be removed all together. Why worry about downrating somebody for their question or answer? If it is offensive or nonsense, then flag it. If you just don't like it, then skip over it and give positive ratings to the questions you find worthy of answering and the answers that you do like or agree with. The better answers and questions will still rise to the top using this method. Even downrating an offensive member or troll does not do any good. They don't really care if their percentages are adversely affected. Avid members do care though and it just doesn't seem fair for somebody to get downrated and their percentages lowered when all they are trying to do is share their knowlege and voice their thoughts and opinions. Get rid of the percentages. Replace them with a method that automatically calculates points per questions or points per answers. These are really the numbers that should matter. It will distinquish those who post valid contributions and those who post "fluff". There are no benefits for the downrate button. All it does is promote trolling and hurt the feelings of those who take their contributions seriously.

Yes, I think so. I give positive ratings to thoughtful, provocative, witty responses. Mostly I give no points. Rarely give DR...and only for something offensive or rude or insensitive. I like differing opinions...and I note some ABers DR for opinions which oppose their own. I think that is just wrong.

Yeah that's why I've never DRed anyone. It's pretty much the same as the "thumbs down" feature of Yahoo Answers. They don't affect the overall score of users and yet, they're a source of resentment.

I was just talking with you about this : ) I once stood up for the downrating sytem, even posting a question about it. Now I'm not so sure. Like any other system there's always people prone to abuse/misuse it, that's a shame because otherwise it would be a good form to determine the utility of a question or answer.

There was a point to it once upon a time. When I first joined answerbag the whole point was that the better answers would be rated "helpful" and rise to the top of the list, and the worst answers would be rated "not helpful" and sink to the bottom. When there were relatively few contributors and a much stricter moderating system - this worked surprisingly well. At that time there were no real conversational questions - most of the answers were factual and drew on the users' knowledge and experience so it was easy to see which answers were useful and which were wrong or unhelpful. AB is a very different site now - there is a lot more traffic, a lot of conversational and opinion based questions and the ratings (up and down) seem to be fairly arbitrary and unrelated to the quality of an answer. It's seen as rude not to uprate everyone who answers your question - regardless of whether the answer was actually any good or not, which sort of makes the points a bit meaningless anyway. Personally I've giving up caring about either uprates or downrates - if I can get six points for telling someone what my favourite colour is then why should I give a damn if someone else wants to take six points away? The whole system means virtually nothing, giving points isn't so much a way of approving a good answer as a way of telling another user you like them. It's just become a politeness thing.

The button serves zero purpose except to the trolls.

I believe that my opinion on the DR button is well known . I have been anti unamed DRs ever since I came to AB. If a person leaves a comment explaining why an answer is unhelpful or on a factual question an answer is incorrect I appreciate that person leaving a comment. That way it helps me to know where I went wrong and it helps any person reading that answer to know that it is incorrect. DRs that do not have a reason, do not help the person Down Rated or the people that come along after. That in my opinion just makes the DR a useless exercise its only beneficiary the pleasure that the person pressing the button gets from doing so.

i'll agree. hell, i don't even see any benefits to the positive ratings either. ..can i have some points please?

I have been saying the exact same thing for a while now ...no D/R = no trolls...it is very simple , now if we all(as I have done) and email the AB staff asking that the D/R be scrapped we just may solve this problem and make AB a happier and troll free place!:):)

Thanks for your question, Jay. I'm with Firebrand. If you want to downrate, you should say why. How will we learn anything if there's no comment? I wish the DR button would go. I'm even in favor of getting rid of the points entirely. I think that would "thin the herd" down to people who want to be here to ask and answer meaningful and helpful questions. (It would cut down on the nonsensical stuff, because people wouldn't be asking anything that comes to mind just to build up points.)

How Ghandiesque of you Jay ;o) Great idea.

I agree. If I ever do DR, i always feel guilty about it and go back later and uprate. It's very true. I can't see what purpose the negative ratings hold!

No. Welcome to a lesson in democracy. On the upside, you get the opportunity to tell someone that they are an idiot. On the downside, the idiots also get to vote!

I agree. If one doesn't agree with or like an answer then they can just leave it with 0 points and comment if desired. As has been said, if you think an answer is nonsense, spam, or offensive then just flag it.

Totally agree, it is useful to Trolls and not much else. If they do not leave a comment explaining why they have downrated it serves no purpose at all. Nobody loses anything except their temper on occasions.