What kind of answers deserve thumbs down?

there seems to be a lot of agreement.

silly answers get a thumbs down, and angry, insulting ones get a thumbs down.

i was sorry to see that someone gives a thumbs down to people who don't capitalize... i haven't in years, it's a religions thing!

now i'll get thumbs down just because of my love for lower case!

(little letters need love too)

(oh, and for the record, i just went through and gave everyone who answered this a 'thumbs down'...just kidding!)

dab

I think some people give every answer a TD. I wonder if they're people who are allowed few opinions and little control in their personal lives so they use the TD as a way of asserting themselves. If a question asks for an opinion, no answer deserves a TD. All opinions are valid whether or not we agree with them. If the question asks for factual information, misinformation may deserve a TD, but I think it's better just to answer with the correct info. Meanness and obscenities deserve thumbs down, but why bother? The person who wrote those answers loves the attention. I just ignore them unless they're really awful.

I give A LOT of thumbs up but refrain from thumbs down unless someone seems to be intentionally crashing a question to lecture with some off topic rant/condemnation/finger pointing. Even then I may or may not exert the energy to click that thumb down button. It's so much easier to just roll my eyes and carry on weeding through the thought provoking posts.

I give thumbs down to answers that I know to be factually incorrect, or otherwise deceptive. In this category, for example, there are a lot of evangelical Christians writing Chrisitan answers to Jewish questions, and touting "Messianic Judaism" (a branch of evangelical Protestant Christianity) as being Jewish in anything other than name. So yeah, answers that are deceptive and flat-out wrong, get thumbs down.

Also, stupid answers should get thumbs down. Offensive and racist answers should be erased, and anyone who repeatedly violates Yahoo's supposed community guidelines should be banned. And answers that don't actually address the question - those deserve thumbs down even though some questioners actually choose these as the best ones (or often, they'll ask a rhetorical question and choose the answer of someone who said something to the effect of "I agree"). People who answer questions with "I don't know" should get thumbs down, and immediately have their memberships revoked. Seriously - if you don't have the slightest clue what the answer is, don't write just for the automatic two points - go answer questions you might actually know something about. And that's the last category - answers by people who haven't the slightest clue what they are talking about. Often, those answers will also fall into one or more of the above categories.

So, to re-cap:

-Stupid answers

-Deceptive answers

-Factually inaccurate answers

-Racist/bigoted and otherwise excessively abusive answers (I think it's okay to poke fun at an idiotic question - but excessive ad hominem attacks should not be permitted)

-Answers that don't actually answer the question

-Any answer stating nothing more than that the answerer doesn't know the answer

-Answers by people who know absolutely nothing about the subject being discussed

All of the above categories deserve thumbs down, and some of them probably deserve a punch in the face as well.

I mark " thumbs down " for two types of answers.

First: The answer that doesn't even attempt to answer the question. For example:

Q: What do you suppose Heaven will be like?

A: It doesn't matter, you're going to hell.

Not only did this answer not offer any insight, but it was it was meant to be offensive. In my opinion, thumbs down.

Second: The " two point " answers.

There are a sad group of people that treat Yahoo Answers like World of Warcraft or Guild Wars. it's all about gaining points and leveling up. For example...

Q: Do you believe that each religion should have it's own land, and why or why not?

A: no.

There you have it. A quick two points. Those people should be on Polls. Nothing insightful, just a short answer and move on to the next two points.

I hope this was helpful

best wishes.

Hello,

You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink as the old saying goes. I agree with you that I have seen some answers, real tautologies backed by good references that get thumbs down just the same.

I think that foolish statements such as hasty generalizations, emotional rabble rousing or ones that are out right lies deserve the thumbs down.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

I'd say when people don't like your answers. Maybe even answers that are too long sometimes, maybe thats what happened when you stated facts.

What deserves thumbs down? Maybe if the question directly says that they're looking for answers from a certain group of people and someone comes in clearly not within that group just to say that they want to answer even though they're asked not to.

What else deserves thumbs down? If people point out minor spelling or grammatical errors just because they don't agree with your question or your opinion in certain areas. I think comments like that are just ignorant.

FYI--I always check to see if i get thumbs down or thumbs up. Often I feel I didnt deserve thumbs down, but i assume I get it cause they didn't like my answer. I might get thumbs down in this answer if people do the above listed things and don't agree with me. I'll get thumbs up if they do agree with me. I try not to put too much stock in it all, but I still check.

I try to evaluate answers based on their content and exhibited thought process. If they miss the point of the question, are just spouting learned response, or are siting inaccurate facts (read creationist pseudo science, primarily), then I will thumbs down. I do not automatically thumbs down answer that oppose my viewpoint.

Basically I try not to pay attention to when I get thumbs down.

Mere disagreement is not a reason to vote thumbs down. Anyone asking a question should logically expect answers from more than one side of the aisle.

I vote thumbs down only when an answer is NOT an answer. "I don't know" might deserve a thumbs down. Definitely, when it's followed by "thanks for the two points." GRRR. That annoys me.

Personally, I think the only ones that deserve a thumbs down are those who answer the questions very stupidly simply to get a point or two.

Or if they are completely rude. Stuff like that is unnecessary.

Valid disagreements and points of view shouldnt be thumbs down.