Today, I found one of my nodes on the list of the Worst Nodes for this day. Shocked by the ignorance of the unknown voter, I requested a reason via the chatterbox, why my technically correct node had been deemed worthy as a bad node. It was no brilliant node, I was willing to concede, but the judgement seemed harsh in my eyes.

In the ensuing discussion in the chatterbox, I had to clarify my statements and to reformulate the point I wanted to bring across, as the fellow monks could not see my wit and cunningness with which I had pointed out a flaw in another node.

In the meantime, a kind soul had voted my node back to "Reputation : 0", but in retrospect, I guess it was more motivated by my ranting than by the quality of my node.

During the discussion I transferred the example which I had given to the chatterfolk in a corrected version to the node. More explaining text was added. A third vote came in, resulting in "Reputation : +1". This shocked me. That node was bad. It had been so bad, that one individual had sacrificed a vote for a "Reputation : -1". It was so bad, that I had to admit myself that it had, despite its shortness, some unclear points. And now, somebody thought that this node was not that bad after all.

What had changed ?

A practicing pedant pointed out to me, that people do not like pedantic quips but like explanations and maybe some examples. And indeed, during the node rework, the text had changed from a two-line remark to an explanation and example of the problem and the solution. While first I was only trying to be accurate, I had missed the fact that the perceived fault was not even clear to my fellow monks. But now, it seemed that carity had found this node.

What did I learn today ?

First, I thought people should be required to give a reason for a negative vote. I was even almost prepared to call for a crusade on this matter. Then I realized that my view of the subject matter had not been clear to everyone and that an example can also help other people with understanding a problem. But the real revelation I did have was that, had the voter not voted, I would not have gone back and a bad node would have lived on.

I don't know if this is a final truth, but it was a story I wanted to tell :)

I did not find any better place to post this, but wanted to share my experience - so please excuse if this was far too wrong here ;)

Note to "--" voters : Although it surely made me rethink my node, I would have it appreciated much more, if there had been a comment added like "Don't be such a smart-ass, be nice" or "Please state your problem with the above node more clearly ! Nobody understands what you are bitchin' about."

Another discussion of this topic took place at this node.