Explaining a downvote feels like calling someone out, and if I explained my downvotes a lot, I’d feel like I was being aggressive. Now, it’s possible that unexplained downvotes feel equally aggressive
To me they feel more aggressive, since they imply that the person doesn’t have enough status to deserve an explanation from the downvoter.
An equivalent behavior in real-life interaction would be saying something like “you fail”, followed by rudely ignoring the person when they attempted to follow up.
Not sure the status implication is accurate. When I vote down someone high-status, I don’t feel any particular compulsion to explain myself. If anything, it makes me anticipate that I’m unlikely to change anyone’s mind.
I think a much closer analogy than saying “you fail” is frowning.
Would you prefer that I posted a lot of comments starting with “I voted this down because”, or that I didn’t vote on comments I think detract from the site?
To me they feel more aggressive, since they imply that the person doesn’t have enough status to deserve an explanation from the downvoter.
An equivalent behavior in real-life interaction would be saying something like “you fail”, followed by rudely ignoring the person when they attempted to follow up.
Not sure the status implication is accurate. When I vote down someone high-status, I don’t feel any particular compulsion to explain myself. If anything, it makes me anticipate that I’m unlikely to change anyone’s mind.
I think a much closer analogy than saying “you fail” is frowning.
Would you prefer that I posted a lot of comments starting with “I voted this down because”, or that I didn’t vote on comments I think detract from the site?