Sometimes my post receives downvotes with no explanation on what I've done wrong. Even worse, sometimes I just get snarky comments!

It seems like this is especially bad for new users, who are made to feel unwelcome by veteran users. Stack Exchange's rules can be difficult to grasp, especially for newbies, and downvotes can feel hostile and discouraging.

Several ideas have been proposed for how to fix this, including:

• Every downvote should be accompanied by a mandatory comment
• Downvotes should be accompanied by a mandatory, anonymous comment
• Downvotes should be accompanied by a reason selected from a drop-down menu
• The first downvote should be accompanied by a mandatory comment
• Downvotes should cost reputation points unless accompanied by a comment
• ...and other variations.

However, whenever someone suggests one of these changes on Meta, it gets unceremoniously rejected and (ironically) downvoted without a detailed explanation!

Why are all of these suggestions rejected?

Is it because people here are curmudgeonly trolls who just hate people and don't want new users to feel welcome?

_{This question was originally from this Meta Stack Overflow question.}

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Sometimes my post receives downvotes with no explanation on what I've done wrong. Even worse, sometimes I just get snarky comments!

It seems like this is especially bad for new users, who are made to feel unwelcome by veteran users. Stack Exchange's rules can be difficult to grasp, especially for newbies, and downvotes can feel hostile and discouraging.

Several ideas have been proposed for how to fix this, including:

• Every downvote should be accompanied by a mandatory comment
• Downvotes should be accompanied by a mandatory, anonymous comment
• Downvotes should be accompanied by a reason selected from a drop-down menu
• The first downvote should be accompanied by a mandatory comment
• Downvotes should cost reputation points unless accompanied by a comment
• ...and other variations.

However, whenever someone suggests one of these changes on Meta, it gets unceremoniously rejected and (ironically) downvoted without a detailed explanation!

Why are all of these suggestions rejected?

Is it because people here are curmudgeonly trolls who just hate people and don't want new users to feel welcome?

Formerly Why isn't providing feedback mandatory on downvotes, and why are ideas suggesting such negatively received?.

_{This question was originally from this Meta Stack Overflow question.}

Return to FAQ index