Is it OK to downvote those who come and just say "Hi" in Q and A threads?

Question

Is downvoting good etiquette for this? It could just be an ignorant user doing this and not a spammer.

Answer 1

For an experienced user - with a gold or platinum badge, I ll probably give a downvote with a note.

But not for beginners as they will leave this community. I d simply say Hi and tell this is not the right place

Answer 2

I only downvote really bad behavior but never a badly answered question or a not so good code.
Everyone benefits here, if it is clearly communicated what is good or bad on his code / contribution and what he could do better.
But to look over the comments and to distribute his downvotes without comment definitely is bad behavior!
Many will not know why and sensitive people won't post anymore.
Of course you can rate, but that should also be helpful for the other.
An anonymous downvote is not helpful and indistinguishable from a malicious act!

Answer 3

We should tell them to stop spamming using a good approach🙂

Answer 4

Yes, if you believe it deserves a downvote go for it.
It becomes bad if you downvote good or neutral comments, questions or codes.

Answer 5

My standard post for this: "Please don't spam" + the post with the rules. Or I explain that the q&a section is only for programming related question.

I think it is not wrong to downvote such posts but I would say that it is not nessecary. And in some cases the user only try out the q&a section. Sometimes they apologize then.

But yesterday asked someone for a femdom. I downvoted this post. :D

Answer 6

It's mentioned in the guidelines and I quote:
"The Community chooses the best and the worst
content/members using its right to upvote and
downvote code samples, posts, answers,
comments, etc. While an upvote is a reflection
of one’s attitude to the content, a downvote is
mainly used to keep SoloLearn safe and
interesting.
Here are the cases when the downvote is
eligible:

* Posts/answers comments that can be considered
as spam
* Incorrect and misleading answers
* Answers/comments that do not match the
question
* Cases of plagiarism
* Other cases that contradict the guidelines..." --
https://www.sololearn.com/Content-Creation-Guidelines/

Personally making them aware of their actions is better.
Down-voting helps skip such posts, for others scrolling through the forum. Posts like this are removed regardless so either way is fine.

Answer 7

I don't downvote at all. Rather, I would reply to the user and explain why I have an issue with the post. Downvotes are something done in the shadows, as the source of a downvote is not revealed.

If a user posts something like "Hi" or "shejdhw" as an answer to a question I have asked, I post a response tagging them, and ask them "Please do not spam". I think this is better than a downvote, because I have personally called out their bad behavior.

When I see a questioner asking such a person not to spam, I always upvote the questioners entreaty.

Answer 8

Latest rule of Sololearn: Never cross a moody MOD, lol.

Answer 9

Paul K Sadler is right - why downvote at all?
You can handle all purposes by upvoting, not voting, comments or, If there is the need reporting...

Answer 10

Honestly, it all depends.

For example, if it is someone new, they may just not know that it shouldn't be done (I know a lot of people have said this already). I personally wouldn't downvote the comment for two reasons: one, it shows the kindness within the Sololearn community, preventing those inexperienced programmers to not be afraid to ask questions or post codes publicly; second, it also can show other new programmers that this shouldn't be done so that hopefully these events will become reduced and show up less and less.

However, some other people may be spamming, and that is never good for forums and Q&As.

To deal with this problem, I would probably look at the profile of the person who posted the comment first (as I know a lot of other people would do as well), and then decide whether the post deserves a downvote.

Then again, it all depends on you and what you think you should do.

P.S.: I'm also not saying these posts deserve downvotes! I just believe that upvotes and downvotes should be considered with thought before using either one on a post or comment.

Answer 11

I think you have to tag the person and explain to him his or her mistakes so that he or she does not repeat it again.
sometimes down voting learners especially beginners makes them feel bored.so I think it's better to correct the person,That's my idea

Answer 12

What I would like to downvote but don't because it seems to match the protocol:

When people answer a question although it already has been answered and they are just saying the very same thing again.

In the guidelines there's some part saying that misleading answers are to be downvoted. In my opinion this should be extended to obviously duplicate, spammy answers.

Answer 13

I feel if it's worthy of reporting, it's worthy of downvoting.

If we eliminate downvotes, we could probably also eliminate self-upvotes. Downvotes are only semi-anonymous in that platinum moderators can see which users have issued downvotes. Supposedly it's to prevent revenge-seeking behaviors.

I'm not sure the downvote is a (dis)service to the poster as much as it's a service to others who may drop into the thread and sort by votes. On the other hand, upvotes seem to be a service to the poster more than a service to drop-ins for reasons already stated (users who post early and users with many followers who like storm get pushed up past more accurate or complete answers posted later on).

So if you think it's spammy, feel free to both downvote and report. If you feel it's innocent infringement, you can take the gentler approach (warn & withhold vote).

My 2c.

Answer 14

⚡Prometheus ⚡ I was talking more about those who say "Hi" as an answer to a question.

Answer 15

I agree with Crash that upvoting, not upvoting, commenting and reporting can accomplish everything that a downvote can. I personally feel downvoting should be done away with. Short of that, it's shadowy nature should be eliminated by removing it's anonymous nature.

This discourse is the beauty of this platform. We can all have our opinion. I thank you all for sharing yours.

Answer 16

It shouldn't be--print(spam*20).
But, if it's a direct copy paste like from top answer then i see no reason why someone woudn't downvote it. (HonFu)

Answer 17

Downvoting is a bad thing, it demotivates newbies

Answer 18

Austin Heisley-cook In this case you can tell him to stop it. Then he will know what he is doing wrong!

Answer 19

Funnily enough I'll be writing this right after what Paul wrote ... 😂 let's go anyway.

Lord Krishna, would you say that a correct answer that's given again over and over even hours or days later can validly be interpreted as spam according to the guidelines above?

Answer 20

Sonic let them live with the downvote