in reply to Downvoting & XP

I hadn't looked at The Worst Nodes in a long time. Without applying any scientific method in particular I've noticed that one particular user seems to have garnered the lion's share of "worst nodes" across several category of worst nodes. Why that is you'd have to ask the monk themself. If you dare.

What makes a node go bad? (or the secret life of the criminal node)

There are in my observation of how things work here at the Monastery many ways that a node can be downvoted. Some of these are as follows:

  1. Homework Nodes

    These seem to have a equal chance of getting upvoted or downvoted. Some folks in monkdom get hot under the collar when they see a posting that is obviously a homework assignment where the OP did not even attempt to work it out on their own. If you are going to post your homework at least take a stab at working it out and asking intelligent questions.

  2. FLAMES!

    Wheather you are posting here on PM or Usenet or <insert mailing list here>, starting a flame war or flaming someone is just a bad idea. There are some targets out there worth flaming such as The Evil Empire or Son of Evil Empire but even then you need to be thoughtful in your approach. It's just good manners. Didn't your mother ever tell you "keep your words sweet... you may have to eat them some day."

  3. Just generally aggravating folks

    jeffa wrote a wonderful node some time ago entitled How (Not) To Ask A Question where the ways of annoying people on the PM site are layed out. Break one of those rules and you have a good chance of making the big leagues if that is your ambition in life.

  4. Altered states of conciousness

    Back in the Usenet days (you know... in the days of UUCP and 1200Baud modems.... ah forget it.. I'm showing my age again...) there was a wonderful book published called The Zen and the Art of the Internet that I wish was required reading for anyone taking to the Internet in search of a good time and/or kowledge. Before you got to buy a modem at the computer store you should have to take a test and... oh... I'm ranting again...

    In the above cited book there is a list of rules concerning when you should post and when you shouldn't post. Some reasons not to post are:

    • When you are angry
    • When you are high
    • when you are tired and cranky
    If you break that rule you can get downvoted fast. I will confess that I have broken all of those rules at one time or another (sometimes multiple at once) and the couple of times I did it here I got what I deserved and got downvoted.

  5. "Me Too" posts

    I know those get me cranky. When all a node says is "I have to agree with "that monk" without any amplification or value added. Why use up bandwidth for that? We all could with some effort write a 'bot to do that for us! ARRRGH!

  6. Have your stuff together

    An excellent off-site reference on how to ask questions in any forum, not just PM is [mailto://esr@thyrsus.org|Eric Steven Raymond's] missive How to Ask Questions The Smart Way. If you follow those guidelines you are less likely (not a guarantee) to be downvoted. Looking back at some of my less than successful nodes I can say the common denominator has been when I hadn't fully thought out my question and framed it with all the facts. Sort of the on-line version of the addage "Engage Brain Before Putting Mouth In Gear."

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Re: Re: Downvoting & XP
by tilly (Archbishop) on May 04, 2004 at 20:42 UTC
    I've never understood why people think that How to Ask Questions The Smart Way is good advice to give people.

    Yes, I know very well that anyone who takes the advice there will probably benefit from the advice.

    However the way that that advice is presented virtually guarantees that people who need the advice will not actually read it. Furthermore the tone of the article, from start to finish, stands out as a canonical example of how not to give advice. (Unless your goal in giving advice is to be left feeling justified in proceeding to flame people for not taking your advice.)

    Those flaws far outweigh the content for me.
[reply]

          I've never understood why people think that How to Ask Questions The Smart Way is good advice to give people.

      You have an alternative? In spite of editorial issues I still think the content is valid. Yes, it could be stated nicer, but it still makes valid points.

[reply]
        Plenty of alternatives exist that cover some of the same material. You linked to one on this site. Another is How to get the most of your question from the monks.

        It would be easy to rewrite ESR's piece to say the same things and not offend. The problem is that without ESR's name recognition, it is hard to get it out there, and I'm sure that ESR doesn't see the issue and so wouldn't accept the suggested update.
[reply]
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