My Stack Overflow answer had one upvote and one downvote (and was accepted as the One True Answer), so I would expect to lose 23 points if the answer were deleted. However, I lost 25 points for the deletion. Why?
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Can you add a screenshot? We (non-moderators) can't see deleted posts on your reputation history– FDinoffCommented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:05
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1Was it the accepted answer? That's another 15 points.– ServyCommented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:05
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@Servy: It was the accepted answer. I have added the screenshot.– wallykCommented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:15
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3 Answers
Because it also had the accepted checkmark, which disappears when the answer gets deleted.
The easiest way to find that out is to look at the post timeline and see that the last accept event was on your answer.
answered Aug 15, 2013 at 19:05
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3Even so, wouldn't that still mean that the question was worth 23 rep, not 25? Commented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:07
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3@StephenTG That's what the deletion event says... Originally he has +1 +accept for 25, then he got a downvote for -2, then the post was removed and removed the 23 that was left. There's no problem here. Commented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:09
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@animuson The problem is that the OP said he lost 25 points, not 23 points. He should have lost just 23 points.– ServyCommented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:10
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Ok. I couldn't see the deletion event, so I assumed it said -25, as the question implies Commented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:10
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@Servy In his reputation history I see -23 on the removal event and a -2 for a downvote. Commented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:10
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1@animuson Not being mods, we can't see that information on another's profile; we're forced to live with the information the OP included in his question here, and he said 25 (meaning he's clearly mistaken, but we can't prove that, only you can).– ServyCommented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:11
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@Servy: Maybe I am misreading the history, but it looks like I lost 25 points.– wallykCommented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:16
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1@wallyk You did lose 25 points, but 2 were from a downvote, and 23 were from the deletion, so the deletion only removed 23 points.– ServyCommented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:17
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4@wallyk I think you're confused by the downvote. That downvote was just cast about 30 minutes before the post was deleted. So before the deletion occurred, you had gained 25 reputation and lost 2, for a net gain of 23 that had to be reversed with the deletion. If the downvote had occurred, say, 7 days ago, then that -2 event wouldn't be there and you'd only see the -23 for today. Commented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:19
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@animuson: I see that I got 10 points for another question. And I am guessing that
-15besidetodaymeans that I lost a total of 15 so far today. So doesn't that mean that the question being deleted cost 25 points? Total for the question?– wallykCommented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:22 -
2@wallyk Yes, today your net loss for that question is -25, but that doesn't mean the deletion itself caused a loss of 25. The downvote and deletion are separate events. Continuing my example, if that downvote had occurred 7 days ago, your net loss for today would only be -13 rather than -15. Commented Aug 15, 2013 at 19:22
Your rep log indicates that you lost 23 point for the deletion, not 25. The other 2 lost rep are from the downvote.
We can tabulate this out by summing the answer's pre-deletion reputation events:
+10 upvote
+15 accept
- 2 downvote
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+23 pre-deletion worth
When the answer was deleted, you lost the total value of the question's reputational worth to you, which was 23 rep.
To put it another way:
- Suppose I gave you 25 dollars.
- The next day, I need money to buy my lunch, so I say, "Sorry, can I just get 2 of those dollars back from you?"
- The day thereafter, I realize I meant to give those 25 dollars to someone else entirely, so I say, "Terribly sorry, but please give all of that money back. That shouldn't have gone to you at all."
When I take back the money, I'm certainly not going to ask for the full $25 back, because you already gave me $2 of it the day before. Thus, on the final day, you give me $23, but your net loss (counting from the first day) was $25, including the other $2.
- 1 Upvote = +10
- 1 Downvote = -2
- 1 Accepted Answer = +15
When you add the upvote and the accepted answer, you get +25. When you subtract the downvote, you get +23 When your accepted answer gets deleted, it cancels out the net gain you've achieved. Therefore, it shows up as -23. If you had 2 downvotes, it would have shown up as -21. See?
