The voting itself is interaction.
Not from my POV. It's just reaction.
Usually when I downvote, I reply and tell what is wrong with the post
But that's not the situation we were discussing. I mentioned that the downvotes were both unexplained and inexplicable (not flames, not inaccurate, not even re-orderable when viewing by reputation).
There is no question of *need* regarding XP or votes.
Context, my friend: you said that the vote told them what you thought of their post. Why is it necessary to provide a vote to tell them what you thought of their post, when you provided a reply? That is what is meant by "They really need a vote?"
The PerlMonk tr/// Advocate