12

Undownvote

It seems like maybe cancelled downvote might be less...weird?

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9
  • 1
    "Reverted downvote" should be the right term. Probably not enough space for it though.
    – Oded
    Mar 2, 2012 at 14:56
  • Your right... it should be called "Removal of the downvote" for the sake of clarification :)
    – Gabriel
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:23
  • 2
    For some reason, even though I click upvote on this 1K+ times, only one vote registers... sigh
    – casperOne
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:24
  • 2
    Sure, for those who've read 1984 ;-)
    – Arjan
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:27
  • 1
    Me unupvoted? That's unpossible
    – Ben Brocka
    Mar 2, 2012 at 17:10
  • @casperOne I hope you realize you just unupvoted .5k+ times
    – Ben Brocka
    Mar 2, 2012 at 17:15
  • no one can not imagine anything that would not be not as bad as undownvote
    – gnat
    Mar 2, 2012 at 17:30
  • Who is allowed to undownvote, only the original downvoter or anyone? Thankns.
    – octopusgrabbus
    Jul 25, 2012 at 13:11
  • I was just about to post a similar question on unupvote when I found this. I'm all for your suggestion.
    – toniedzwiedz
    Aug 21, 2012 at 16:59

6 Answers 6

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15

It's not really wrong, but I agree it's a bit weird.

It's even longer so it may not be practical, but I opt for

downvote removed
upvote removed

or 

dv removed
uv removed

or as suggested by MDMarra 

↓ removed
↑ removed

or as suggested by slhck, even more in keeping with SO's general design

▼ removed
▲ removed

?

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21
  • 4
    I like it. Or even ↓ removed
    – MDMarra
    Mar 2, 2012 at 14:58
  • @MDMarra hey, that's cool!
    – Pekka
    Mar 2, 2012 at 14:59
  • Feel free to edit it into your answer. You inspired the idea with the dv abbreviation.
    – MDMarra
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:01
  • 4
    "reverted" does not imply the same thing as "removed". A person can actively remove their vote, or a vote can passively be reverted by the system.
    – slhck
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:15
  • @slhck true ----
    – Pekka
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:16
  • @slhck Can you please explain the difference? It seems like the two terms can be used interchangeably in either circumstance.
    – MDMarra
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:18
  • @MDMarra a downvote can be reverted by another user's upvote, while removing it definitely means the original downvote
    – Pekka
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:19
  • @MDMarra I take removing as something you actively do as a user. For example, you downvote a post, it is improved, then you "remove" your downvote. In contrast, when talking about fraud votes, I mostly hear about "reverting" them, which isn't something you do, but the system does for you – as if they never existed.
    – slhck
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:20
  • @Pekka'sReputationBordello I wouldn't consider someone else upvoting a question to have reverted a different user's vote. Both votes are still present.
    – MDMarra
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:20
  • @slhck Personally, I don't see a distinction between the two. The system removed fraudulent votes. They were present at one point in time, and then they weren't.
    – MDMarra
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:22
  • @MDMarra You also have a point, but I've never heard someone say they reverted their own votes. Maybe this is getting too specific ;)
    – slhck
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:23
  • 1
    I still prefer "undownvote" over any of the short versions above.
    – Arjan
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:30
  • @MDMarra and all, actually, the system thinks it reverses vote fraud.
    – Arjan
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:32
  • 1
    "ex-downvote", eh?
    – ale
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:33
  • 1
    @MDMarra They consist of the text "up vote"/"down vote" styled with css to show arrows instead. The same method should be applied to this text, if icons are chosen, instead of just displaying a unicode character.
    – CodesInChaos
    Mar 2, 2012 at 18:45
15

How about downvote to keep it both simple and within the space limits?

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2
  • 4
    Even geniuser! +1. And show a "this downvote was removed by the user" tooltip
    – Pekka
    Mar 2, 2012 at 17:07
  • Yeah, I like this a lot.
    – MDMarra
    Mar 2, 2012 at 18:25
6

I'm not a fan of the word "cast", so I recommend the following for when you vote up or down on a question:

  • Vote up
  • Vote down

If you want to replace that with iconography, that works too, but the above is pretty simple (even simpler than upvote/downvote, IMO) and should be understood by anyone looking at it.

However, I don't see the reason to use "removed", since the common terminology when it comes to votes is rescind.

So I'd like to just see "rescind". I don't need to see "upvote/downvote".

IMO, "upvote"/"downvote" is an over-specialization of the voting action. You simply cast a vote up or down, and conversely the action you perform is "rescind", the direction doesn't matter since its reflected in the rep.

You can even take it one step further and say that you can just have "Voted" when a user casts a vote, and let the rep reflect the direction the vote was cast.

If you want to be really consistent you can simply have:

  • Vote cast
  • Vote rescinded

Which ultimately, I like the best, as it reduces four states down to two while being consistent.

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4
  • 4
    IMO rescind is a bit too fancy for a site with an international audience. I for one barely know it, and there surely are quite a few users with weaker English than me.
    – CodesInChaos
    Mar 2, 2012 at 17:03
  • 1
    @CodeInChaos Perhaps, but remember, English is the language of the Internet at least from SO's point of view. I guess the question is, what is the minimum amount of English that we require?
    – casperOne
    Mar 2, 2012 at 17:05
  • I have to agree that rescind is a bit of an overkill bordering on legalese.. (and in before the weaker-than-me vs weaker-than-I brigade)
    – prusswan
    Mar 2, 2012 at 17:19
  • Agree with 100% of this answer, except the part where you say you don't like "cast". Pray tell, why not?
    – Cody Gray - on strike
    Mar 3, 2012 at 4:31
4

Compare:

cancelled downvote
undownvote

Granted, "undownvote" isn't a real word, but expanding it fully would amount to making the vote-type column much wider than it needs to be. "undownvote" keeps it still roughly in the same realm as when there are just normal votes.

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4
  • 3
    I like MDMarra's idea: ↓ removed
    – Pekka
    Mar 2, 2012 at 14:59
  • What about @Pekka's suggestion, or the use of the unicode down arrow? All of the currently supported browsers should be able to render it, right?
    – MDMarra
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:00
  • 5
    @MDMarra The arrow is never used anywhere else. If at all, it should be this: ▼
    – slhck
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:16
  • I can get behind that.
    – MDMarra
    Mar 2, 2012 at 15:16
4

How about "withdrawn"? It sounds more of an active verb to me. Or would that be ambiguous as well?

downvote withdrawn
upvote withdrawn

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2
  • 3
    I like the word, but Grace made it clear that it's too long. Perhaps ▼ withdrawn?
    – MDMarra
    Mar 2, 2012 at 16:35
  • That looks good.
    – BoltClock's a Unicorn
    Mar 2, 2012 at 16:37
0

The word undownvote implies that unupvote exists too.

I presume that is to differentiate it from reversal, which is what the system or devs do if you have serial voting occur. But the question: Why are my downvotes being undownvoted? says that the system uses that word too.

Perhaps "reversed" would be appropriate if the system or a moderator reversed the decision and "reversal" ( or 180°, if eyesight/accessability is a concern) if the person changed their mind after five minutes. Made up words are probably challenging for some whom English is not their first language and they might feel excluded, not understanding the concept.

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1
  • 1
    Yes, there also is post_unupvoted see the reputation_history_type field
    – rene
    Jul 13, 2018 at 19:00

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