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This post targets infrequent unreasonable down-votes that are received after a critical comment of you or a down-vote that you explicitly said it's yours, only.

To be honest, it goes on my nerves if someone down-votes my questions / answers with no reason even more when it is posted within a rare tag that doesn't have much audience to recompense it.

Sometimes I suspect some people since for example I posted a critical comment under their answer, but I'm not sure. However there is a benefit if I know who is the down-voter, that is, I won't participate on their posts anymore in anyway and will be able to mention them while flagging a post of mine with pointing to days I received such irrelevant down-votes.

Their behavior will be destructive. They will down-vote you whenever they receive one, which they think nobody could be in charge of it except you. They think about you. Unfortunately, most of them are aware of serial down-voting consequences hence do their evil votes irregularly to seem legit.

So my question is how can I find if an account that I'm suspicious to, is one who cast a down-vote?

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  • 2
    1) I've downvoted this question and answer. 2) I won't participate on their posts anymore - That's extremely petty. So someone thinks your post is bad. You're going to totally ignore them because of this? 3) Downvoting isn't always destructive; it seldom is. Am I being destructive by disagreeing with your question and downvoting it? 4) The third paragraph is extremely paranoid and overly cynical, even by my standards. 5) Regarding your answer, I think stalking someone is a bit of an overreaction.
    – HDE 226868
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:19
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    Sorry it seems you didn't get my words. This question is asked due to infrequent unreasonable down-votes that is a beginning of a behavior known as revenge down-vote. So it's not about right, appropriate and reasonable down-votes. @HDE226868
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:25
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    "infrequent unreasonable down-votes that is a beginning of a behavior known as revenge down-vote" - you have no way to know this.
    – Oded
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:30
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    Yes, that's totally it unless you think about someone in particular. @Oded
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:33
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    Believe me, I've investigated enough times to see that in the vast majority of times, people are wrong about who has been downvoting their posts. If you do suspect someone, flag a post for moderator attention, citing the profile of the suspect - at this point the moderators can investigate, not you.
    – Oded
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:35
  • Regardless, unless someone explicitly says "I'm downvoting this for X" you have no way of knowing the voters reasoning, even if you do detective your way to knowing who the voter was. And even then what are you going to do with the information? Downvote their posts? No.
    – Cai
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:56
  • I said it multiple times in comments. Check update @Cai
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:58
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    Your question is composed by two parts: one is a rant about downvotes, and the second one is a real issue. If you remove the rant (remember: have a tear of rant in a post, and all others will comment on is the rant) then you may get a good question. But then I fear that you may have still a problem: either you are aiming at resolving what seem an impossible problem by asking for a feature that can't be done (how you would recognize a vote as "revenge vote"?) or you will ask for a feature where people would need to "justify their downvotes, probably with an anonymous comment...
    – SPArcheon - on strike
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 18:21
  • ... and both have already been asked and discussed multiple time without any success. I suggest you stop and do some research on the topic with a query like "comment downvotes" and only then decide if it is still worth to fight this windmill. Sadly, unless you have some really innovative proposal attempting the same request again, even if you remove the "rant" part will just get your question closed as dupe.
    – SPArcheon - on strike
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 18:24
  • "However there is a benefit if I know who is the down-voter" - You suspect you know who issued the, but you don't actually know, so you shouldn't attempt to call out that person. By having this type of attitude, you are also unable to accept feedback, I have seen this hundreds of times. "how can I find if an account that I'm suspicious to, is one who cast a down-vote?" - You cannot. It is not your job to get rid of users who behave in the way you describe.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 23:05

3 Answers 3

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So my question is how can I find if an account that I'm suspicious to, is one who cast a down-vote?

You don't.

Even if you suspect someone is downvoting your posts to target you, rather than the content, do not go and look for them. Flag one of your downvoted posts to moderator attention, explain the situation and at that point, stop.

Votes are supposed to be anonymous for a reason. If someone discloses how they vote that is up to them, but going and looking specifically for someone is not how the site was designed and is something we actively discourage.

In cases of vote fraud and serial voting, we have tools in place to detect such things and reverse them if needed (and take action against the offending parties).

If you get the occasional downvote - take it as a learning experience, try to improve your post and move on.

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    Oded, see I know this and there are lots of questions and answers out there for the same thing you think about. I'm not talking about all down-votes that are received but those after a critical comment or a down-vote that you explicitly said it's yours. So it's neither about a poor post nor a wrong answer.
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:42
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    Still, it is not for you to take action. As I commented,flag for moderator attention and move on.
    – Oded
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:01
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    What actions can victims take?! I said in question there is a benefit... there is no action. Final step or action, if you like to call it this way, is flagging which I said it too ...and will be able to mention them while flagging a post of mine.... Your answer obviously doesn't fit the question.
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:08
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    "What actions can victims take?" - again: "flag for moderator attention and move on".
    – Oded
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:20
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    Again: do not try to look for the downvoter. Do not try to do anything about it except for flagging.
    – Oded
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:21
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    You are not trying to answer this question. This What actions can victims take? has an exclamation mark too.
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:22
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    You are just not liking my answer, @revo - it goes against what you want to do. My answer is "you can't and don't try to".
    – Oded
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:22
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    This answer talks about down-votes in general (which has tons of relative questions in meta) but question is about very specific down-votes. So it's not about me to like it or not, it's about answer that doesn't point to same subject.
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:27
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    @revo - the answer is relevant to the specific scenario you have in mind.
    – Oded
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:33
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    Still with adding such a sentence to just show it contains same words of question, If I'm the questioner, I'd say no. I'm done at this point and if there is a chance for this question to remain alive I'll accept the other answer after my 2-days period.
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:41
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    I feel like I am talking to the wall here. I understand your scenario - my answer and all comments are directly relevant to the exact situation you have in mind (as well as other situations). You are unwilling to accept that. So be it.
    – Oded
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:45
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    @revo - I should note that following Oded's suggestion is the right way to go here. You flagged the serial votes you received, and I notified SE employees about this, along with the evidence that I have (and you don't) as to who might be behind this. It can take them a little while to dig through this, and will eventually be resolved, but resorting to vigilante justice in the meantime will only make things worse. Present your case to moderators or staff members and trust us to deal with this.
    – Brad Larson
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:48
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    Your comment was pleasant. So I got two down-votes right now on SO, should I flag it?! @BradLarson
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:58
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    @revo Yes, you should flag it, if you think it is a suspicious pattern. But if you start randomly flagging every down-vote then you'll run into a boy-who-cried-wolf situation, of course. So use your judgment. Also take a moment to reflect on why you really care so much the next time you're in the shower or taking a walk. In general there is noise, and over time the signal far outweighs the noise, so a few down-votes here and there, deserved or not, really don't matter in the grand scheme of things. And serial down-voting patterns will be detected and reversed, and you flagging them helps.
    – Jason C
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 16:03
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    I have been keeping those two posts and one or two others that are older than two years for such down-voters. It's usual for this people to sort others posts by votes, choose one from lasts and cast their own negative vote on them to seem legit, as I said earlier, and I believe flagging doesn't help in this situation. I'm not a person to flag such and every down-vote and this question and answer confirms it, if you read them. @JasonC
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 16:27
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In general, I believe you're putting too much emphasis on the value of a down vote. If you're a user who is using the site significantly, you are going to get down votes. It is all part of the game.

Like you said, some people may do so from malicious reasons. So what? You lose 2, 4, 6 rep. I've lost 10 in a day before. Ask yourself, Does this really matter?

If you're participating in a nice way in the site, the upvotes you will get on your posts will by far compensate the downvotes you are receiving.

Don't get ticked off over down-votes: If you see a reason for them or you get multiple down-votes on the same post, straighten yourself out. Otherwise just move on. The downvoter will do the same, and if he doesn't, the system will take care of it with time.

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There are some ways that you can definitely figure out whom you suspected to be the down-voter is the down-voter or not.

  1. When you receive down-vote and you are still on a page with an activity of him

Don't reload page! That's the key. Move cursor on his name or reputation point and you will see his score of the time before you get the down-vote. Now you can compare it with his current score. If it's reduced by 1 then you almost can call him down-voter (but still don't judge if it is happening for the first time or significant time has passed since down-vote)

enter image description here

If it is not first time and user scores changed much more than 1 point (either decreased or increased), it's better to check his reputation tab and do a basic math. At least one point should be missed.

  1. Down-vote one of his posts that has most negative votes (you should undo it later)

Why? because if he is a resentful person he will cast another down-vote on your posts, immediately or after a day and then you can follow approach #1. But you should undo your vote as soon as you find whether or not he is the down-voter.

  1. Delete your post that received down-vote!

No, I don't mean for ever, but this way 1 point will be added to down-voter reputation points. I'm not sure if it happens immediately but within a few minutes certainly.

Finally, I'd suggest you to take a deep breath and sing a song when you receive such maddening down-votes and keep up doing other great stuff like posting a nice answer to gain some reps rather than destroying your whole day!

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    No. Don't do any of this. Take your downvote and don't be so petty.
    – Cai
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:21
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    Ironically, these two posts got their first down-vote in less than 1 minute. Who thought I'm saying never cast a down-vote? Absolutely I'm not.
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 13:31
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    Following the process you've outlined here is a) a complete waste of time, and b) an abuse of the voting system, that may result in your account getting suspended.
    – yannis
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:06
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    No, if we are talking about infrequent unreasonable down-votes. @Yannis
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:11
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    Again: Regardless of what your opinion of the downvotes you received is @revo, the process you've outlined here is abusive. There's absolutely no excuse for it. If you suspect you are being treated unreasonably, flag for moderation attention and move on.
    – yannis
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:15
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    The abuse is happened when you down-vote in a sense of revenge not to find who is the down-voter. Approaches #1 and #3 doesn't have anything to do with casting votes so if you call second approach abusive then it doesn't suggest you to keep your down-vote even on a truly deserving post ...that has most negative votes... @Yannis
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:21
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    You can keep arguing, I've no doubt you will, but it doesn't change the fact you're wrong. The behaviour you're describing is abusive within the confines of this system. If you ignore that, expect consequences.
    – Clive
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:32
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    You all were wrong about this question and answer at the very first place then I used explicit descriptions and you got it. You are free to keep your down-votes and comments since for sure you insist on what you said earlier. @Clive
    – revo
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:37
  • Actually I downvoted when it was on -8, no edits since, so no. We don't want these sorts of petty goings on, this is a place for grown ups. Anyway, congratulations on drawing attention to your behaviour in the one place most network moderators will see it. Peace
    – Clive
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 14:42
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    This wouldn't work for me. I open dozens of questions at one time, and issue votes. "Down-vote one of his posts that has most negative votes " - This is called revenge voting and is the ENTIRE reason voting is anonymous in the first place. Horrible idea! "Delete your post that received down-vote" - This will be noticed by auditors like myself, who will report it to a moderator, this is a great way to be question/answer banned. Because if I see the history of a answer/question, and it was deleted, I am going to question it.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Oct 18, 2016 at 23:09

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