18
$\begingroup$

Somebody has gone through all my answers, systematically downvoting every one. I think I know who it is, but I wonder what to do about it. Any suggestions?

Edit My reputation has now been restored, whether by humans or robots I can't tell.

$\endgroup$
9
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Why not just tell the moderators? That's what they're here for. $\endgroup$
    – user1736
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:17
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I thought maybe the moderators might read my post, user1736. $\endgroup$
    – TonyK
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:21
  • 12
    $\begingroup$ Dang, now they've downvoted this one. $\endgroup$
    – TonyK
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:24
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ No idea why one would downvote this question. Being stalked could be disconcerting. +1. $\endgroup$
    – Aryabhata
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:35
  • 5
    $\begingroup$ @Moron: because it doesn't belong on the main site? $\endgroup$
    – Qiaochu Yuan
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:36
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @Qiacho: Do downvotes carry over with migration? I was under the impression they didn't, I might be mistaken, though... Seems like we are on meta, even though we clicked on it from the main site! $\endgroup$
    – Aryabhata
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:37
  • $\begingroup$ @Moron: I guess so. The original downvote was before migration. $\endgroup$
    – Qiaochu Yuan
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:39
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ @Qiaochu: Seems to be a strange feature. The -1 was for being off-topic, and it is now born on-topic with -1. Given that most migrations are due to being off-topic, seems like most questions will start out with negative votes on the on-topic site. Also, how does the system deal with the rep imbalance? Anyway... $\endgroup$
    – Aryabhata
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:40
  • $\begingroup$ I thought the -1 was for being me. (I assumed it was the same user.) $\endgroup$
    – TonyK
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:48

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
18
$\begingroup$

The offending user has been suspended for a day and I am sending them an email now.

$\endgroup$
7
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Is there any way to remove the downvotes? Clearly the suspension indicates that their actions are not acceptable. $\endgroup$
    – Andrés E. Caicedo
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:41
  • $\begingroup$ ("Clearly", I say, without knowing. Anyway, I think the downvotes should be removed.) $\endgroup$
    – Andrés E. Caicedo
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:42
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @ANdres: If the downvotes hit the anomaly checker, they will automatically be removed. See this: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/28756/serial-downvoting-victim $\endgroup$
    – Aryabhata
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:45
  • $\begingroup$ @Qiaochu Yuan: Thank you! I have been especially impressed here by two users who have come to my support despite previous run-ins with me. $\endgroup$
    – TonyK
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:56
  • $\begingroup$ @Andres: I don't think I can remove the downvotes, but I could be wrong. $\endgroup$
    – Qiaochu Yuan
    Jan 6, 2011 at 23:59
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Said user could go through and remove those down votes. It would be a touch of class IMHO. Of course a down vote is legitimate if an answer is believed clearly incorrect. Down votes penalize the caster as well, so this serial behavior reminds me of jstor.org/pss/20076295 an experiment by Zizzo and Oswald (2001). $\endgroup$
    – hardmath
    Jan 7, 2011 at 1:56
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @hardmath: not if the window for changing votes has passed. $\endgroup$
    – Qiaochu Yuan
    Jan 7, 2011 at 12:56
9
$\begingroup$

The daily voting anomaly script will remove any statistically anomalous voting patterns it discovers.

This happens every 24 hours and requires no intervention.

$\endgroup$
3
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ It checks that day or does it check previous days? If not, and if the downvoter downvoted only once every day, then they would probably remain undetected. $\endgroup$
    – Mateen Ulhaq
    Jan 7, 2011 at 1:51
  • 7
    $\begingroup$ @muntoo that's indistinguishable from regular activity, then. If you buy enough pseudoephedrine containing products, one per day, at the end of 365 days you can make meth.. $\endgroup$
    – Jeff Atwood
    Jan 7, 2011 at 5:28
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ True (about the meth part), but if this doesn't take too much CPU, you could check how many times [over a week] user A has downvoted user B, and if user B has received more upvotes or downvotes by OTHER users (C, D, etc). If downvotes > upvotes user A is innocent else, flag him for further processing. Of course, you only check it at downvotes, not serial upvoting :). $\endgroup$
    – Mateen Ulhaq
    Jan 7, 2011 at 5:44

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .