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This question already has an answer here:

First off, sorry if this post is on the wrong part of stack exchange. I believe that this would be appropriate either here, or the meta part of the main site itself. I have also contacted the help center but have not yet received an email back, additionally I've seen some mods respond to post like these on this stack exchange.

It appears that someone has deliberately downvoted every post I have made, I am almost certain of who this person is because I believe everything they post is non-sensical yet the most I have ever done is downvote a post or 2 of his and have never insulted him. The time stamps for when my post were downvoted all appear within the same minute and a half, all without reason, and even on post that had 5 upvotes. What should I do about this, will I earn my rep back, will the person who did this be properly reprimanded, and what can I do to prevent this from happening in the future? (My profile)

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marked as duplicate by achille hui, user147263, Paul Plummer, JMP, Shailesh Jun 8 '16 at 3:16

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

  • $\begingroup$ The system will automatically correct it soon. However it is good to bring this to the attention of moderators. $\endgroup$ – user223391 Jun 8 '16 at 0:06
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    $\begingroup$ here it is by time math.stackexchange.com/users/229632/… $\endgroup$ – Will Jagy Jun 8 '16 at 0:07
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    $\begingroup$ The script that undo these sort of downvotes are supposed to run at around 3:00 UTC, see this. $\endgroup$ – achille hui Jun 8 '16 at 0:11
  • $\begingroup$ @achillehui That's great to hear, and addresses my inquiries about the lost rep. However, I assume the person who did this will be handled by the moderators? I would still like to know what I can do to prevent this. $\endgroup$ – Colbi Jun 8 '16 at 0:13
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    $\begingroup$ Up to my understand, the mods don't know who that person is. only SE employees has that info. If this repeat, then flag it and mod should know what to do. $\endgroup$ – achille hui Jun 8 '16 at 0:14
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    $\begingroup$ We (the mods) know who it was. There will be consequences. I expect the script to invalidate the votes. It is barely possible that total number of downvotes is not large enough (we don't know the details of what will trigger the script) in which case I think of something else... The advice to flag one of the downvoted posts for mod attention is a good one. We can then investigate. Mind you, if you only get a downvote or two, don't bother with the flag - not enough to work with. $\endgroup$ – Jyrki Lahtonen Jun 8 '16 at 5:31
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    $\begingroup$ @JyrkiLahtonen In looking at the 12 downvoted items 9 of the downvotes I could see myself doing (I could go either way on downvoting or just ignoring on some of them). I am not sure how "wrongful" the down voting is and personally not so sure if those votes should be removed, or if the person who did them should have consequences (for this, maybe the person is doing other things that deserve consequences). I have not looked around meta, but is it still considered targeted voting if the person is voting because they think the posts are bad? $\endgroup$ – Paul Plummer Jun 8 '16 at 12:43
  • $\begingroup$ I find it very unlikely that they even truly looked at the post to downvote so many in such a small amount of time $\endgroup$ – Colbi Jun 8 '16 at 12:56
  • $\begingroup$ A good question @PaulPlummer That is something we take into account. However, 12 downvotes in 2 minutes points very strongly at targeted voting. I think it is more or less certain that the voter specifically searched for Colbi's posts. Consequences may be limited to a warning. I haven't had time to investigate the matter more closely. $\endgroup$ – Jyrki Lahtonen Jun 8 '16 at 12:56
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    $\begingroup$ @JyrkiLahtonen I agree that the voter specifically targeted Colbi, but I am not so sure if these were "wrongful" votes. Maybe any sort of targeting is wrong, which is fine, but I am not sure if it is considered "bad targeted voting" if you actually think the posts are bad. When I used to vote a lot, I would have a browser open that would contain all the posts I would want to vote on the next day (if I went through my 40 votes), and would go through 40 votes very quickly, so it is not crazy to me that there would be 12 votes in 2 minutes. $\endgroup$ – Paul Plummer Jun 8 '16 at 13:03
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    $\begingroup$ Anyway, I am sure the mods will do something reasonable, I just figured I would say what I thought on the matter and my doubts, since no one else brought up the points I was thinking. $\endgroup$ – Paul Plummer Jun 8 '16 at 13:11
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pretty impressive, not even sure how one would successfully cast so many downvotes in under 120 seconds...

enter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ He definitely thought just how he was going to systematically downvote me thoroughly, but not the ramifications of such actions $\endgroup$ – Colbi Jun 8 '16 at 0:18
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    $\begingroup$ @Colbi, don't hold your breath hoping for ramifications. This will be reversed, which is the main reason I posted an image. If this was done by exactly one person as you think, there may be no punishment or even warning; if there is, you may never be informed about that. My own approach is to stop interacting at all with a problem person, and deleting recent posts I may have made that relate to that person, even upvoted answers. This fits my personality, I suppose it is not for everyone. $\endgroup$ – Will Jagy Jun 8 '16 at 0:21
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    $\begingroup$ I do wonder that if the person was willing to do this to me on such a whim, wouldn't they do it to others as well? I won't be holding my breath, however. $\endgroup$ – Colbi Jun 8 '16 at 0:24
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    $\begingroup$ @WillJagy this is also what I do with a problematic person. $\endgroup$ – achille hui Jun 8 '16 at 0:27
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Whenever you answer someone's question, or more specifically comment, try to do so in the least imposing manner possible. While it is not entirely your fault, being as kind as possible is a precaution you must take on a free-to-access forum such as this. You say that you did not insult him, but surely there was conversation, and something you see as unimposing may very well be to someone of an easily angered nature. Good luck with having your reputation rightfully returned. This comment on a similar issue in the past shows how you should deal with this type of issue, the entire thread can be of use, too.

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    $\begingroup$ Conversation or not, it does not excuse nor warrant actions like those. $\endgroup$ – Colbi Jun 8 '16 at 0:14
  • $\begingroup$ Of course not, however, you asked how you can prevent something like this from happening again, and that is how and why. $\endgroup$ – Migillope Jun 8 '16 at 0:19

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