# Mass downvotes problem on another Tesla forum



## Troy (Sep 18, 2017)

The point of this post is to explain what is wrong with downvotes and hopefully, we never see them on this forum and other forums will remove them.

*September 2016 mass downvotes:*
I wrote a comment about Tesla discounting new cars but somebody didn't like it and mass downvoted my messages. This looked wrong because the person was targeting me and mass downvotes are not allowed on some other websites. I explained this here but nothing was done so I downvoted him back and we agreed to undo all the downvotes.

*October 2017 mass downvotes:*
I was complaining about receiving downvotes from an overly enthusiastic user who is using the downvotes feature too much. Somebody else saw my complaint and decided to mass downvote me. I never had any interaction with this user until that time. I wrote about it here. Nothing was done.

*March 2018 mass downvotes:*
I don't like helping people who downvote my messages. I add them to my ignore list. Somebody was hoping for a 90 kWh Model 3 battery but downvoted me when I predicted 75 kWh. It turns out, this person was asking me lots of questions but I didn't see his messages and he didn't know I ignored him. When I realized that, I decided to let him know but I thought what if there are other people. Being the systematic person that I am, I created a spreadsheet with all the downvotes I have ever received. I resolved the issue with 2 people.

When I created the spreadsheet, I realized that most of my downvotes were from the same 4 people. This was useful information to demonstrate that some people are targeting others. Maybe the admins would remove the downvotes feature when they saw this data. I posted a message here about it. That didn't go well. I received a ton more mass downvotes. Most of them were from two people I never talked to. Maybe these are secondary accounts.

Nothing was done. Some people made fun of it. Others said I shouldn't care. You can read the comments here. The reason I care is that the intentional vandalism makes the data questionable. Let's say somebody is trying to make a decision on Model 3 wheel sizes and saw my message here. Because of the disagree votes they might think that the data here is wrong however I received those during the mass-downvote together with ~150 other downvotes on the same day.

I wish the admins on TMC would remove the downvote feature or at least remove mass downvotes when they happen. Currently, 84% of the downvotes I received are from the same few people. I decided to use TMC less and TOO more. I'm glad that TOO doesn't have downvotes. I also like Reddit's voting system.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

I completely, 100% agree with your post. 

I had my own run-in with this behavior back in June 2017:


garsh said:


> P.S. - Last week, I rated a post on TMC with "disagree". The next day, I had notification of ~5 new ratings on the website (I don't post there often). The member whose post I had rated "disagree" apparently looked up my profile and went through all of my old posts and rated them "disagree". I was a bit amused by that.


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## SoFlaModel3 (Apr 15, 2017)

I stopped going on TMC and Tesla’s own forums as well. I think we have a great group here and everyone is engaged in the spread of good, fun information and experience sharing!


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## yackojack (Oct 11, 2016)

Looks like you got banned from TMC. ouch. thats gotta hurt.


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## alpinebum1 (Sep 7, 2017)

This reminds of a Black Mirror episode.


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

yackojack said:


> Looks like you got banned from TMC. ouch. thats gotta hurt.


Shouldn't hurt too much. He can still read posts there.

TMC is mostly good. There are a lot of good people there, and a lot of information. But there are a handful of posters that cause many of the threads to feel negative, and sometimes they're just spiteful or hostile. I'm glad that Trevor has taken steps to help keep this forum a bit more positive and friendly. I hope we can keep things this way.


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## Impatient (Sep 19, 2017)

Wow, Troy. Just wow. I've been amazed by the amount of work you've put into the Model 3 prediction modeling and I have had hours of enjoyment geeking out over the raw data and your interpretations. The actions taken against you "over there" are nothing short of reprehensible.

I've had an account on TMC for nearly five years and, while there are still some great people there, I've seen the culture become less supportive and more childish over time.


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## hobbes (Sep 12, 2017)

Hi Troy. Sorry to hear you were banned from TMC. IMHO you have been the member who has put most content and least chatter into TMC (and other forums, too). Has been a lot of fun working with you. 

That said I still don´t get how you got so upset over downvotes and I get even less how you react to them by doing the same thing back. That doesn´t work. Just ignore the trolls. Trolling back gives them the attention that makes them keep going. Now they are probably happy you got banned.

Keep up the good work elsewhere.

Hobbes


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## TrevP (Oct 20, 2015)

@Troy we removed down-voting and "dislikes" on this forum a long time ago because it fosters negativity which goes against our ethos of civility and respect.

My goal in starting M3OC was to have a civil place where people from all over the world could discuss and share our interest in the Model 3 without suffering personal attacks and mud flinging that is so prevalent on the internet and other forums. We have a great team of moderators who work hard to keep it that way and I'm very appreciative of their efforts.

Everyone is welcome here as long as they keep comments and opinions respectful. In case some of you haven't read our guidelines I'd recommend you have a quick read. It's pretty straight forward:

https://teslaownersonline.com/threads/rules-policies-disclaimers-for-m3oc-forums.2430/


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## Yoda101 (Sep 25, 2017)

Troy said:


> The point of this post is to explain what is wrong with downvotes and hopefully, we never see them on this forum and other forums will remove them.
> .......
> 
> I wish the admins on TMC would remove the downvote feature or at least remove mass downvotes when they happen. Currently, 84% of the downvotes I received are from the same few people. I decided to use TMC less and M3OC more. I'm glad that M3OC doesn't have downvotes. I also like Reddit's voting system.


I really appreciate your data, analysis and comments and I hate a bunch of negative discussions, however I may have disagreed with other members in the past. The intention was never to downvote them but indicate that I have another opinion. I believe it will be sad day if we do not allow, accept and respect other opinions. It is ridiculous to be banned for having a different opinion.

I believe we should still have a disagree option but not a downvote option as proposed by @Troy


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Yoda101 said:


> I believe we should still have a disagree option but not a downvote option as proposed by @Troy


I disagree.

See? We don't need that option. Just post a reply.


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## Michael Russo (Oct 15, 2016)

garsh said:


> I disagree.
> 
> See? We don't need that option. Just post a reply.


I totally agree with your disagreement... 

On a serious note, the reason a reply is favored is because it gives the responder a chance (which we expect...) to explain why the disagreement...


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## jsmay311 (Oct 2, 2017)

garsh said:


> I disagree.
> 
> See? We don't need that option. Just post a reply.


True. But those "disagree" posts waste space and might not be noticed by a reader if there are a bunch of posts between the original post and the reply.

I come to these forums to learn stuff. If someone posts a supposed "fact" and that post gets a bunch of "disagree" votes, it tells me right away that the "fact" is likely wrong. Absent that, I might accept that falsehood as fact and miss a correcting post further down in the thread.


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## Michael Russo (Oct 15, 2016)

jsmay311 said:


> True. But those "disagree" posts waste space and might not be noticed by a reader if there are a bunch of posts between the original post and the reply.
> (...)


You're forgetting one thing... we don't let anything like that happen...

The Mod Police is watching...


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## Yoda101 (Sep 25, 2017)

garsh said:


> I disagree.
> 
> See? We don't need that option. Just post a reply.


Hahaaa!! OK I agree - dump the downvotes which are called "disagree"!
I will not use "disagree" again as it may be interpreted as a "downvote" - right or wrong!


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## Love (Sep 13, 2017)

I think this forum has a problem with mass UP votes!


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## Joaquin (Jan 15, 2018)

Guys, remember that "internet votes" are just that. Nothing worth even getting upset for a second.
Having said that, of course we all are just humans and have feelings. But sometimes people disagree with just the comment we made, not with us as a whole (or it should be like that...). I can agree and love one comment from someone, and then disagree with the next one from the same person.
And, well, we all make mistakes. Is good to listen to the disagreement to see if we can learn something, or just forget about a troll only wanting attention at all cost.
Engaging into "vote wars" can only cause more pain to all parties involved, nothing good from that.


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## Michael Russo (Oct 15, 2016)

Guys, you're obviously free to continue the exchange on this topic, yet please do consider what @TrevP reminded y'all in post #9, in that we have removed all 'downvotes', including the disagree button, a while back and are not about to reinstate any, for reasons outlined above.

At the risk of repeating ourselves, this does not mean disagreements resulting from possible differences of opinions are not acceptable here, as long as they are properly explained in civil tone & words, which we felt was a heck of lot better than just marking a post with a red cross... 

To @Troy 's original intent, which I know included a reference to other much less nurturing forum environment, TMC being the most blatant example, we have come to appreciate the uniqueness of M3OC in terms of a friendly space, which we as mod team endeavor to maintain at all costs...

Let's keep it up!!


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