What makes you vote down an answer?

1. 80

   Hayley Richardsonposted 12 years ago

   What makes  you vote down an answer?
   
   I've noticed there are a few questions where every comment in them has been voted down.  They're all innocuous questions and answers so it didn't make any sense to me.  I'd understand it if they were political, ethical, religious- something that might cause offense, or if the answer was an obvious piece of trolling- but it looks like someone has just been through the list of comments and clicked the down button.  Or am I missing something in the etiquette of how this works?

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2. 73

   marriedwithdebtposted 12 years ago

   If someone is rude or unhelpful I may vote it down, but rarely do I see that.
   
   If someone asks "how do I fix this broken thing in my engine?" and someone responds with something like "pray to Jesus and he will give you the answer," I'll vote it down for being unhelpful.
   
   I've seen people answer with "I don't know the answer but I hope you find it." They are posting just for visibility or to increase their Hubscore.
   
   If I'm in a bad mood I'll vote those type of comments down too.

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3. 60

   FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years ago

   No, you are not missing something. One thing we are not supposed to do is pose a question and then answer it ourselves. The idea is that you ask a question where you want others to answer. Thus, if you answer your own question, that will get voted down, no matter what you say.
   
   There are indeed some petty people who will go down the list of responses and vote them down if they don't like the person. But sometimes the answers are voted down because someone honestly believes it is the wrong answer. Thus, a vote down can be done for the correct reasons.
   
   Luckily, this site does not pay you for your answers in this section. If they did, then these vote downs could actually harm you. But on Hubpages, all this does is alert the reader to what answers are helpful, and which are not helpful.

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4. 0

   jasper420posted 12 years ago

   Personaly I would not ever vote down an answer just because I disagree with someones opinoin we all have a right to speak our mind but if someone is being flat out rude or negitave then I will vote it down because there is a way to be heard without being hurtfull! (Aslo if you dont want to here the opions of others on a topic that is sensitve to you dont ask if our going to vote down someones answer.)

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