How can Yahoo Answers stop thumbs down trolling?

Thumbs down only hides the answer from the person that's giving it and effects the rating on the 'Show' bar. Thumbs up gives the answerer an extra pnt if their answer is picked as best answer. The thumbs down option only helps keep those pestering, 'Trolling', overzealous busy-body's, that think they are the Yahoo! police, from causing more problems. They remind me of those whiny tattle tellers from grade school. It's a feel good button for them and helps keep them from abusing the 'Report Abuse' option. If they do away with the thumbs down, we are all going to feel it (where the sun don't shine). I've bee violated more times than an alter boy at a popester's convention, and so has many, many others. If they do remove the hands down, they better remove the 'Report Abuse' option too. I'll probably get a violation for this too but I don't care, because I'm numb back there now. I'm having too much fun to care about how those troller's get there jollies. I'll keep smiling, no matter what happens. <(õ_õ)> <smile>

Trolling could be decreased somewhat if Y!A suspended the ability to give thumbs if a certain number were reached per day. But obviously some of the trollers are using more than one identity.

Thumbs is a system like any other that works best if not abused. Difference of opinion is a poor reason to thumbs down.

I have given a thumbs down on a mental health answer to help hide an answer from view. The answerer suggested the asker should kill themselves. Others did also and the answer was hidden from view...which at least gave the asker a little heads up about the response.

Like all systems, it has good intentions, but it's people abusing the system that makes it bad. My guess is that Yahoo used the thumbs up/down system to help the asker in deciding what is a good response and what is a bad response based on how people voted for that answer. But then you got trolls out there giving everything a thumbs down, which might make the asker ignore a good answer.

The point of the thumbs down is that some people are giving out misleading information or information that is incorrect because they don't know it or they're doing it on purpose. For example, someone asks if the X-Box 360 can play X-Box games. You got someone telling the asker that the 360 can play all XBX games, which in fact is not true. The asker could have sold his XBX to get the 360 only to discover that only some of his XBX games are playable on the 360, so he got screwed because of a bad response.

No. Identifying the person who gives a thumbs up or down might just encourage trolling against them. It might be worthwhile if it made a difference to anything but it is just a way of indicating support for a good answer or a warning about a dangerous or misleading answer. Some people just use it for trivial reasons such as to indicate their agreement or disagreement with an opinion. That's OK as no one takes any notice anyway.

I think it's pointless. As you said, a lot of people seem to just thumbs down everything. It's annoying and I think the whole system (and the stars, too) should go away.

Do thumbs down effect the answerer? I don't understand the point of even having them. I had a stalker thumb down all my answers one day. It didn't hurt my feelings but it makes you wonder what kind of weirdos are on here....

No, it should just stay the way it is. Some people deserve thumbs down. Especially if what they write is rude or insulting.

There should be only thumb's up and no down.

As we should learn to respect other views and no one in this world is wrong.

In the Y!A blog, they said they have a way to do it, but it is a proprietary secret.

I think they should ban kids and teenagers as that would prevent most of it. (It would stop most of the banal, dumb questions too).