I don't know why so many downvotes without reasonable explanation? and How I can find a researcher that downvote my answer and question? Please see this question and answer: https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_I_can_find_a_researcher_that_downvote_my_answer_and_question Answer from Deleted profile on researchgate.net
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/theoryofreddit › reddit is toxic - we need to be better
r/TheoryOfReddit on Reddit: Reddit is toxic - We need to be better
You're not wrong, but remember that your experience is defined mainly by the subreddits you visit. Your activity shows mostly Michael Jackson and various celebrity/snark/gossip subreddits. It's not surprising that they were toxic and dramatic.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/theoryofreddit › i'm a long-time redditor and mental health researcher. i've increasingly noticed issues with reddit which can encourage conformity, skew our view of what's normal/important, cause perceived threat to social status (which can cause very real stress-related health problems), and create echo chambers.
r/TheoryOfReddit on Reddit: I'm a long-time redditor and mental health researcher. I've increasingly noticed issues with reddit which can encourage conformity, skew our view of what's normal/important, cause perceived threat to social status (which can cause very real stress-related health problems), and create echo chambers.

As a long-term mod who has put a lot of effort into improving "my" communities*, comments on your final paragraph, especially as I see from your profile that despite having a seven-year account, you don't seem to be a current mod anywhere, so some of this might be news :

Turn off the downvote button. - this sort of works for desktop old-reddit users who accept CSS, who are now a minority of users. There is no way a moderator can turn off the downvote button for users redditing via an app, or via the new desktop design, who (both groups together) are now easily the majority.

Try to only ban people and delete posts for a lack of civility/respect or outright bullying/abuse, rather than unpopular views - false dichotomy, most of my bans are to people who refuse to read sidebar rules, and spammers. Most bans are temporary, though, and we've had really good ongoing contributors who have been through temp-bans. Making most first bans just a week long, if there is any possibility that it was just someone having a bad day, rather being a dedicated asshole, would be a good piece of advice.

Perhaps use AutoModerator tools to encourage open and civil discussion - I really have no idea what specifically you mean by this. Can you elaborate here?

The second half of that paragraph, I haven't quoted because it's excellent and true.

*(except this one. I'm still a mod here, but it's the only sub I mod that I don't enjoy any more, because it's become awfully political and attracts a ton of hyper-partisan arguments ever since Trump became the nominee, and we could no longer reasonably exclude the-donald from our topics. I'm not even American. It shouldn't be my job to clean up vomit from your broken country. But I still have just enough love for the subreddit from the old days left to stay and occasionally clean up vomit, but that's all it feels like most days, except the rare treat of when we get a good well-written post like this, so thank you.)

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/theoryofreddit › the psychology of downvoting
r/TheoryOfReddit on Reddit: The Psychology of Downvoting
I tend to upvote people who have been downvoted out of sympathy.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/aspergers › downvotes ruin self-esteem
r/aspergers on Reddit: Downvotes ruin self-esteem
You can’t control other people. You can control how you think and what you believe. You can control how you act and react. You can control what emotions you create.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/cptsd › redditor's habit of downvoting things they disagree with (instead of things that don't add to the convo) is hell for rsd
r/CPTSD on Reddit: Redditor's habit of downvoting things they disagree with (instead of things that don't add to the convo) is hell for RSD

Try to keep in mind that there are downvote bots operating in nearly every single sub and that vote counts are not accurate and are fuzzed to deter spammers. So it's important not to get caught up agonizing over a downvote that may or may not exist AND may or may not have been given to you by any human being.

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ResearchGate
researchgate.net › post › Social_media_Downvoting_and_degrading_in_social_networks-What_are_the_reasons-What_are_the_reactions
Social media: Downvoting and degrading in social networks – What are the reasons? - What are the reactions? | ResearchGate
I don't know why so many downvotes without reasonable explanation? and How I can find a researcher that downvote my answer and question? Please see this question and answer: https://www.researchgate.net/post/How_I_can_find_a_researcher_that_downvote_my_answer_and_question Answer from Deleted profile on researchgate.net
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/anxiety › downvotes on reddit are a nightmare
r/Anxiety on Reddit: Downvotes On Reddit Are A Nightmare
You need to stop using social media. This shit isn't serious enough that it's something to worry about and if you're taking it that seriously you have insecurity / confidence issues. I'd suggest working on you until you're confident in your opinions enough that a downvote means nothing. There are people on reddit that will eat people like you alive simply because they know they're eliciting an emotional response. It's okay to be affected by them, that's the nature of the best that is social media, but it's not meant for everyone.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/mentalhealth › getting downvoted makes me depressed.
Getting downvoted makes me depressed. : r/mentalhealth
June 9, 2023 - Reddit isn’t great for mental health. ... I only downvote the negative comments. And yeah your emotion is valid. I totally get this feeling I get sad about being downvoted too especially when I don’t think there’s anything wrong with my opinion. SMH. ... Downvoted?! Depends on the tread. I just think I hit a chord with some people …
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/mentalhealth › i get hurt even from reddit downvotes
r/mentalhealth on Reddit: i get hurt even from reddit downvotes
Honestly same. I go through my comments every time I open Reddit and make sure none are downvoted. I had one that was and I instantly deleted it and I still feel bad about it but it was like a week ago now. I just keep worrying that I did something wrong or upset someone.
Find elsewhere
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Stack Exchange
meta.stackexchange.com › questions › 330985 › the-psychology-of-downvoting-others-without-telling-them-why
The psychology of downvoting others without telling them why! - Meta Stack Exchange

I have been active on different SO/SE forums for quite a while.

The sites here aren't forums, they're tightly curated Q/A resources, more akin to Wikipedia than a social network.

However, I have barely seen the same behavior from other SO users. Consider this post for example. There I have asked a question about compiling software on FreeDOS and I didn't ask it on SuperUser because I speculated (wrongly) it will include some programing.

The question was closed, and the close message gives a very useful pointer for you, namely:

"Questions about general computing hardware and software are off-topic for Stack Overflow unless they directly involve tools used primarily for programming. You may be able to get help on Super User."

Which tells you quite a bit about what went wrong with your post. Downvotes don't come with explicit messages, and this has been brought up and declined more then a hundred times already (no, really), but they do have a description on the privilege page and the arrow:

This question does not show any research effort; it is unclear or not useful

From which you can extrapolate quite a bit.

As soon as I wrote this I experienced a tsunami of downvotes and flags on my posts and former posts! someone even took the liberty to edit my post and remove this criticize. So here are the points I want to discuss:

That's regrettable but also understandable. In your message you basically accuse people who donate their free time and expertise to keep stack overflow clean of refuse and off topic questions of being toxic. Being that this is tagged with psychology, one of the universals of human psychology is that people dislike being accused of things they find reprehensible but haven't done. It''s therefore unsurprising that editing such a paragraph into the question would draw negative attention.

what exactly happens in the mind of a person causing him/her to downvote others without giving them the chance to learn why? and why when this behavior is criticized they tend to do it even worse? Has there ever been a psychological study on people's behavior on social media and how they try to punish/silence others?

When you curate posts on Stack Overflow, you see a lot of bad posts. Like, 90% of what you see in the close votes or new posts queue is bad or off topic. The strain of explaining the same thing to 1.000 people making the same mistake day after day makes people curt in their responses. The SE system has mitigated this by reducing human interaction: close reasons are largely canned, and commenting about your downvotes is discouraged.

I disagree that this has anything to do with silencing or punishing others, that is your interpretation into it from not knowing exactly how it works. This here site is not a social media platform or forum, it is a (supposed to be) tightly curated Q/A resource. You wouldn't accuse people of silencing others on wikipedia because your contribution to an article got rejected, for instance. It's in the same vein here.

Regarding for why making wild accusations draws additional negative attention, see above.

Why SO/SE still has the feature of anonymous downvote without explanation. When there is a flag option what is the benefit of having downvote at all?

This topic has been discussed, the idea rejected, and the topic discussed hundreds of times on Stack Overflow and on here. So much so, there's a FAQ dedicated to listing the arguments. You'll note that FAQ has 60 undeleted linked questions alone.

why there is no option to move questions across these SO/SE forums if being "on-topic" is so important?

There is, in limited circumstances, it's called migration. It's not often used, because usually questions have to be reworded / reworked significantly anyways to fit on the scope of another SE site, and usually these questions are poor to start.

Answer from Magisch on meta.stackexchange.com
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Medium
medium.com › user-experience-behavior-design › downvotes-punishment-behaviorism-ad134044e7ba
Downvotes, Punishment, & Behaviorism | by Dan Bayn | User Experience & Behavior Design | Medium
May 5, 2021 - People who are downvoted tend to downvote others, perpetuating the cycle. It’s easy to see how this process can overshadow the benefits of upvoting… · We find that negative feedback leads to significant changes in the author’s behavior, which are much more salient than the effects of positive feedback. These effects are detrimental to the community: authors of negatively evaluated content are encouraged to post more, and their future posts are also of lower quality.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/depression › do you get hurt by downvotes too? i feel so stupid.
r/depression on Reddit: Do you get hurt by downvotes too? I feel so stupid.

There are some great people on reddit. There are also some colossal douchebags. I think depressed people (or perhaps all people) tend to view things like reddit and facebook as a means to gauge social acceptance/rejection. I think the anonymity gives people a sense of security, so sometimes they conduct themselves in an unsavory way without the fear of facing social consequences. Don't measure your self worth based on what some semi-sociopath neckbeard thinks. Nobody can hold opinions that everyone 100% agrees with 100% of the time. Just stay true to yourself and your beliefs, whether someone else agrees with your beliefs is their problem, not yours. Also, I've seen reddit downvote some truly great content, while at the same time upvoting complete and total crap. I'm not sure I would want reddit to agree with all of my opinions.

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Popular Mechanics
popularmechanics.com › science › health › upvotes, downvotes, and the science of the reddit hivemind
Upvotes, Downvotes, and the Science of the Reddit Hivemind
August 8, 2013 - Over six months, the research team took a small percentage of more than 100,000 written comments and slightly altered their vote rating as they were submitted. Four percent of the comments were given a positive edge (a single upvote) while another 2 percent were struck with an immediate disadvantage (a lonely downvote).
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/socialanxiety › [deleted by user]
[deleted by user] : r/socialanxiety
December 11, 2023 - I can't tell you the number of times I've clicked something accidentally while scrolling through Reddit, including upvote/downvote. ... Social Anxiety is a mental illness characterised by distress in social situations which cause impaired functioning in daily life.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/offmychest › annoyed at how mass downvotes on reddit actually make me cry
r/offmychest on Reddit: Annoyed at how mass downvotes on Reddit actually make me cry
Here’s my rule. I usually only respond once, twice maximum. I don’t fight with people bc I don’t care that much. I was just downvoted -65 on a comment. Reddit is a bunch of 15 year old boys who downvote women to hell. Don’t take it personally
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Talkspace
talkspace.com › home › 12 comments that are unexpectedly detrimental to people’s mental health
12 Comments that Are Unexpectedly Detrimental to People's Mental Health - Talkspace
June 17, 2020 - A callous or poorly thought-out comment can cause a spiral or depressive episode for someone with mental health challenges.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/mandelaeffect › the downvoting problem and why it's a bigger issue than people may think it is
r/MandelaEffect on Reddit: The Downvoting problem and why it's a bigger issue than people may think it is
So I guess my question is this - is there something to suggest intentional block voting? We have a pretty divided community on this subreddit, but nothing seems organized. Are you seeing things that suggested organized downvoting? Also from a personal perspective - there's A LOT of low effort posting. I downvote and report all of these when I see them. Could there be a lot of others doing similar things? I've noticed the reporting is really hit or miss and have even had other mods respond to my messages to the mod team MONTHS after I messaged them. Is automoderator what's mostly controlling things?
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/petpeeves › people who freak out over being downvoted
r/PetPeeves on Reddit: People who freak out over being downvoted
The karma system is kind of nuts in the first place. What do you mean the amount that other people agree with me determines whether I can post in certain subs