Am I breaking the rules?

Just a quick note in puzzlement to see if I'm breaking a rule that I don't know about. A recent post of mine has been voted down for seemingly no reason.

The post was originally voted up to +1, but it was later voted back down to 0, and a reply post I added to it was voted down to -1. Any ideas why?

It seemed like a valid question, and I thought I provided enough information and code to put it in context. The -1 reply was actually the posted result from a suggested course of action.

I wouldn't be worried about this, but it's actually a very important question for me, one I haven't been able to answer on my own. I'm worried that potentially helpful Monks won't ever see the question, let alone answer it, if the reputation gets too low.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
~chris

Comment on Am I breaking the rules?

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Re: Am I breaking the rules? by Mission (Hermit) on Jun 22, 2001 at 06:31 UTC
CMonster, I read through both nodes and I don't see any reason that I would vote either of them down. I agree that they both explain the problem, and post enough code so that everyone knows what your code is like. I don't know of any 'rules' that you may be breaking. I do know that the etiquette that I was told when I first had the ability to vote is that if you vote someone down, you should make an effort to explain why. I've done that in the past, but other monks disagree with that philosophy. I do know (from reading these kinds of nodes in the past) that this subject is usually approached sooner or later by all newer monks (although you don't seem to be a new since you're a Scribe.) I have also seen the effects of people complaining about getting down voted, and in turn they get down voted more. So it's a vicious cycle that I don't think will be solved sometime soon. I do hope that someone has the courtesy to /msg CMonster with the reason for a downvote. Then I think you will have an answer. However if you didn't receive that message by now, I doubt that you would get one. My suggestion to you is to chalk those nodes up to experience and a bad day and just move on. I know the elders of our community told me the same thing a few months back. Please keep posting and participating... our entire community is much better off that way. *- Mission* "Heck I don't know how to do it either, but do you think that's going to stop me?!!"	[reply]
(tye)Re: Am I breaking the rules? by tye (Sage) on Jun 22, 2001 at 11:03 UTC
There are hundreds of us here. *One person* probably downvoted both. That probably has almost no reflection on you or the nodes. Search around for tons and tons of other discussions on the topics of voting, downvoting, why some good nodes get zero upvotes, etc. Advice: The more you ignore downvotes, the happier you will be. - tye (but my friends call me "Tye")	[reply]
Re: Am I breaking the rules? by CMonster (Scribe) on Jun 22, 2001 at 18:04 UTC
Thanks for your kind replies. I guess I was just being paranoid. The post was voted back up eventually; I was too impatient. No fixes, though. :( I haven't been to the site in quite a while, and I'd totally forgotten about /msg. I've had my CB turned off since the Dark Ages, so there are other comments buried in there from a long time back. :) Thanks again, ~chris	[reply]
Re: Am I breaking the rules? by mr.dunstan (Monk) on Jun 22, 2001 at 09:18 UTC
Wow, seems ok to me. I think you probably fell victim to the unfortunate fact that if you mill around in any large group, community or city, there's a chance someone will yell at, mug or downvote you sometimes, no matter what, for no reason at all. Hopefully this equates to good karma for you in the future! mr.dunstan	[reply]