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Could we add a banner that says something to the effect that "If you care about photography instead feeding the egos of bigoted morons, go elsewhere!" ?

If you can't/won't do that, at least be so kind as to delete my account. The bigoted stupidity here has gotten completely out of hand. People doing "revenge" downvotes just because they're too bigoted to admit that their own "answer" was wrong, even when presented with clear photographic evidence is just too much!

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    stackoverflow.com/help/user-deletion
    – dpollitt
    Oct 23, 2012 at 18:53
  • I agree to a point. As a new user, I certainly have seen this. In my view, it's not because someone is more right or wrong, it's how the community has grown. There are leaders in the pack but they have earned that. If someone comes along with a different perspective, they won't get as many votes as someone else who is new. You can't really ask for the community to change. I wish it were different. I've seen an answer selected as "answered" with less upvotes than somebody else (who had k rep).
    – BBking
    Oct 24, 2012 at 22:10
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    @BBking Often the questioner's idea of the best answer isn't the same as the community's. Sometimes that's because a more concise answer seems more immediately helpful. Other times, the questioner picks an answer quickly and leaves and never saw what turned out to be a better later answer. What exactly would you like to be different?
    – mattdm
    Oct 25, 2012 at 0:08
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    Honestly, I think this a community where new users can gain a lot of reputation quickly if they put in the effort and have a helpful attitude. After all, many of the top users have been here less than two years, and everyone less than three.
    – mattdm
    Oct 25, 2012 at 0:09
  • What I'd like to be different is that members not to straight away upvote an answer by someone who is in the ks. I'd give examples of where it happened to me but I can't be bothered because I know what the response would be, in which I'd probably also partly agree with. I think I have been trying to help. I guess what I'm saying is that I understand how an online community grows and don't want or expect that to change, just that I wish the attitudes are sometimes different.
    – BBking
    Oct 25, 2012 at 2:28
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    @BBking: It is actually quite frequent for newer members who are only here to ask questions to accept an answer rather quickly, and not return for weeks or months at a time. If and when they do return, they rarely review their old questions. Additional answers that may be better than their initially accepted answer do occur here on a fairly frequent basis, usually be a high-rep member, which is the primary reason why you see that dichotomy.
    – jrista
    Oct 30, 2012 at 5:40

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Jerry, I'm not involved in this, but I think you're overreacting. I saw the pictures in question, and I think a reasonable person could disagree about how strongly they support your point. You could edit your post to make the point of your exercise a little more obvious, because if one doesn't already know what you are getting at, I can see how someone could misunderstand without being low in intelligence.

Likewise, there's no particular reason to claim "revenge" votes. Itai's answer and yours both have (at this time) one downvote each. That could be each person voting down the other, or it could be some random observer who thinks one of you is wrong. It's really not worth sweating over, let alone calling names.

Mean, while, your comments on Itai's post are rather hostile ("if you're man enough"), and he's both done some tests and edit his answer to speak to the concerns you've raised, all without becoming particularly hostile. I certainly don't see any sign of either ego or "bigotry".

I hope you do stay, because your answers are often very valuable and present a unique point of view that we're better off having around.

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    In fact, getting angry and calling names can attract downvotes even when you're right.
    – mattdm
    Oct 22, 2012 at 20:47
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Apologies for my late evaluation of this topic. I've been very sick lately, and have barely been able to do the basic moderation of the site lately.

I'm honestly not really sure where this came from. Jerry, you have been a member of this site for some time, and I've never known you to get this angry about anything. I don't quite see what it is you believe was so wrong with Itai's answer, and I do not believe your disagreement with his assessment was really worth getting this upset over. I also do not quite see what you are describing regarding votes. You received a single down vote on your answer, and as it stands, you are only 1 point behind Itai who also received a single down vote. I see no evidence of extensive voting that would indicate Itai received more votes simply because he is popular...he only has ONE more vote on his answer than you do, and your answer was posted at a later date.

There is also no evidence that your single downvote was a "revenge" vote either. However it is well within Itai's rights to disagree with your assessment as much as you disagree with his, assuming he was even the one who cast the vote in the first place. I find it just as likely that the down vote you received had more to do with your attitude on that topic than anything else. While I don't believe such a reason for downvoting is helpful to the community at large, I can certainly understand the action.

Regarding the quality of your answer, the way you presented your argument makes it difficult to understand what you are getting at. As far as readers are concerned, they are viewing some anecdotal evidence put forward by someone who appears to have an axe to grind, more than an interest in offering useful help to the community. I'd offer that taking a photograph through the viewfinder via another camera, preferably one with macro capability, for both focusing screens, would go a LONG way towards proving your point with more viable evidence, as it would demonstrate the actual effect, rather than a the presumed consequence of the effect.

Finally, I heard when you asked for your account to be deleted. I have heard it several times now. You've provided a lot of answers on this site, a lot of valuable, worthwhile information. I'm honestly hoping this is just some moment in your life that is primarily driven by frustrating, external factors relative to this site. I'm hoping that there will be a point in the future when you wish to return. I am also loath to delete the account of a high reputation member that has provided so many answers. Deleting your account as thoroughly as you have requested would leave a gaping hole where all those answers are for nothing but an anonymous user. If in some time you still wish your account to be deleted, we can oblige, however I'll opt to do more of a "soft" delete rather than a complete destroy. If you choose to return in the future with a new account, I believe we could always merge the two and restore your previous status.

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I don't even know which answe is "correct", but that doesn't matter anyways. The entire spirit of the site is to allow for disagreeing answers.

The comments on the questions turned negative and quite mean quick I believe, and from what I can tell most of that didn't come from the other user.

You are a valuable user to this community, I hope you stick around and help us keep the site positive.

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  • Please just delete my account then.
    – Jerry Coffin
    Oct 23, 2012 at 1:37
  • Do I look like I can delete your account? I don't get why you keep saying that... I said I hope you stick around.
    – dpollitt
    Oct 23, 2012 at 1:53
  • That was directed toward the mods. Maybe if I repeat if often enough, one will listen.
    – Jerry Coffin
    Oct 23, 2012 at 2:13
  • As to why I'm saying that: looking at the answers here leaves me with the belief that it's not only accepted that votes on a question do reflect personal popularity instead of accuracy or helpfulness, but that this is reasonable -- that it's how things should be. I want no reputation, nor association of any kind where that's the case.
    – Jerry Coffin
    Oct 23, 2012 at 2:34
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    Jerry, can you point to some questions which you feel have high votes due to "personal popularity" and which are not accurate or helpful? I think it's true that there's some effect where well-known, highly-involved, high-rep names attract more votes, but usually those answers are also helpful and correct — and I've seen plenty of downvotes when those users do make mistakes. Overall, I'm really not seeing the effect you're claiming.
    – mattdm
    Oct 23, 2012 at 13:48
  • Also, to add to @mattdm , the high rep users have usually earned that status with good, helpful answers and/or questions. These users have large amounts of knowledge and understanding of photography.
    – damned truths
    Oct 25, 2012 at 5:43
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A user with low rep may often times not get as may upvotes initially even if the answer is identical to an established user. I believe this is both by design(IDs are not hidden), and by human nature. We can see users rep and many of us in the community learn to trust answers by established users. I can usually say about 99% of the time I'll upvote and believe what @stanrogers says because - from every past experience I've had with him, he knows exactly what he is talking about.

I'm not saying it is fair, or just to upvote someone solely based on their name, but if a seasoned pro on this site has shown past examples of knowledge and skill - I am much more comfortable to upvote an answer they have provided over someone with <100 rep. Reputation is just that - you earn it!

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