If I downvote someone's answer with detail in the comment as to why, then why is my reputation deducted ( by -1). I am helping the community. Reputation is hard to earn, and if its deducted every time I downvote, then I'd just stop downvoting altogether, I suppose. Downvoting helps the answerer to know they lack something in their answer, or have answered wrong. It helps OP (who doesn't know if it's right or wrong) to see which is right and which is wrong, if it's the case.