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I started working on Mathematics Stack Exchange more than $8$ years ago and I had a few problems with serial downvoters.

Starting two days ago, I started facing the opposite situation: a serial upvoter.

Is this frequent? I suppose that the user has been identified since moderators took action to correct the situation. The problem is that I would not like to face similar situations again. Is there any remedy?

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    $\begingroup$ In what way were their up-votes "serial"? Were they targeted at you, or someone else? Did they dig up someone's old questions and give them up-votes in rapid succession, or something else? $\endgroup$
    – Theo Bendit
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 9:08
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    $\begingroup$ It seems that is the case. Because it is so blatant the reversal of votes will be handled by the system. For more specific requests you will need to contact a moderator such as in Math Mods' Office or flagging one of your targeted posts for moderators to investigate. $\endgroup$
    – TheSimpliFire Mod
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 9:10
  • $\begingroup$ @TheoBendit. I saw twice in a very short time ten (or about) of my questions/answers upvotes. Twice almost +200 points. ! $\endgroup$
    – Claude Leibovici
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 9:11
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    $\begingroup$ Wow! I guess you have something of a fan there. :) Still, when you're up-voting 10 times within 120 seconds, you can't possibly have given your decisions proper weight, so it's voting abuse. I notice it's already been corrected. $\endgroup$
    – Theo Bendit
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 9:15
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    $\begingroup$ It happened once to me after I had accused someone of plagiarism. Shortly afterwards, I had 30 upvotes and that person accused me of irregularities. So it appeared to be a strange form of revenge. All is reverted now. – I don't like it because it gives a bad impression in the reputation tab, but I doubt that one can do much about it. $\endgroup$
    – Martin R
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 9:53
  • $\begingroup$ @MartinR. To be strange, it is ! Do you know if the upvoter had been noticed that this is to be avoided ? And what happens ? Cheers :-) $\endgroup$
    – Claude Leibovici
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 9:56
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    $\begingroup$ That account was deleted shortly afterwards. As a mere mortal (aka non-moderator) I cannot see if it was self-deleted or by moderators. $\endgroup$
    – Martin R
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 10:01
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    $\begingroup$ @MartinR. I enjoy the "mere mortal (aka non-moderator)" $\endgroup$
    – Claude Leibovici
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 10:03
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    $\begingroup$ Related on the Main Meta: What is serial voting and how does it affect me?. From the answer: “In no way should you be concerned with reversal statements in yours or anyone else's reputation history.” $\endgroup$
    – Martin R
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 10:09
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    $\begingroup$ Often a serial upvoter is not a fan; if new, remember it could also be a new user. As @MartinR notes that blatant upvoting at times is not complimentary. It plays with the target's emotions. Mods can look into it, and/or escalate to CMs, if the script doesn't auto reverse them; but there really is no way to prevent this; if you suspect a bunch of upvotes "too good to be true", expect them to be reversed. If they are not, you'll need to flag for moderator attention. But typically, don't use meta, nor speculate on who? or why? $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 16:37
  • $\begingroup$ Also, consider yourself lucky, given your eight years, that you became a "newbie" to receiving serial upvotes. There's no point in trying to pin down "motive", whether they were nefarious votes, or someone with a crush on you answers ;D $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 16:42
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    $\begingroup$ Weirdly, I recently lost 10 reputation due to serial up-voting. I know that the specific mechanisms are sensibly kept secret, but I'm suddenly super curious how the system detects one single, isolated "serial" upvote! $\endgroup$
    – Theo Bendit
    Commented Nov 13, 2021 at 22:28
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    $\begingroup$ In my early days on the site--this is probably a decade ago already--I received, in quick succession, a bunch of upvotes on some of my not-so-recent posts. A few days later I received another burst of upvotes, mostly on the same old posts. This kept repeating, with the set of upvoted posts gradually shifting, but still having lots of overlap with previous upvote bursts. No script ever reversed the upvotes. I did flag the situation for moderator attention, but I remember the flag being declined. $\endgroup$
    – Will Orrick
    Commented Nov 14, 2021 at 2:33
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    $\begingroup$ @TheoBendit I also get a single, isolate voting correction of -10 a few days ago. My wild guess is when the system discover someone is serial upvoting, it undo every votes in that batch of upvotes, even for votes to multiple users... $\endgroup$
    – achille hui
    Commented Nov 15, 2021 at 17:33
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    $\begingroup$ There are also serial un-upvoters. $\endgroup$
    – Rodrigo de Azevedo
    Commented Nov 15, 2021 at 17:43

2 Answers 2

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Is this frequent?

The yearly moderation report (e.g. 2020: a year in moderation) does not contain that information. I don't know if a count of voting corrections is kept somewhere, perhaps a moderator can provide more information.

The problem is that I would not like to face similar situations again.

I understand that. I don't like a “Voting corrected” entry in my reputation tab either because it may give the impression to other people that there is something fishy about how I got my reputation.

Is there any remedy?

I doubt that much can be done about it.

It happened once or twice to me that a user told me that they had upvoted several of my answers as an “extra thank you” for my help. In that case I replied with a comment that this is a bad idea, and explained why.

In any case, the system does not hold it against you. From What is serial voting and how does it affect me? on the Main Meta:

Should I be concerned about reversal statements on my profile?

No, not at all. It's only an indication of reputation change. After all, we can't control the actions of other users. It's very rare where we'd run across a user who was committing the voting fraud themselves on their own account, and if we believe you're doing that, you will have already been warned separately or suspended. In no way should you be concerned with reversal statements in yours or anyone else's reputation history.

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    $\begingroup$ Thank you very much for the detailed answer and previous comments. o increase your reputation, I upvote and accept your answer !!!! Good joke ? Cheers :-) $\endgroup$
    – Claude Leibovici
    Commented Nov 11, 2021 at 10:33
  • $\begingroup$ Do you think that it could be possible to ask upvoters to explain why they did it ? $\endgroup$
    – Claude Leibovici
    Commented Nov 17, 2021 at 12:54
  • $\begingroup$ @ClaudeLeibovici: Only if you know who they are – which is usually not the case. $\endgroup$
    – Martin R
    Commented Nov 17, 2021 at 13:04
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Last year, someone had upvoted lots of my posts serially. 1-2 days later, I noticed my reputation had automatically decreased (for serial voting).

So my opinion is there is serial upvoter and downvoter. But serial voting is never helpful.

(I had deleted lots of my account so I have some idea of it)

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