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I gave what I thought was a pretty good answer, and it was downvoted-x2. So at least 2 people felt it was a terrible answer. I have no idea why.

Is there some way to get specific feedback on an answer?

A good answer is not necessarily one somebody likes-it's one that helps resolve the problem the question is posing.

Would requiring downvoters to give a reason help create better answers?

Thanks!

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  • 6
    -1 bad idea. Mandatory comments lead to unconstructive comments like this one. :p
    – sphennings
    Commented Jun 13, 2018 at 0:33
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    Commenting won't really help you if people downvoted because of difference of opinion, e.g. "I think this is the wrong way to resolve the problem". That's why on this site we specifically tell people to write their own answer instead of commenting if they disagree.
    – Em C
    Commented Jun 13, 2018 at 0:37
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    In this specific case a couple of users did leave comments. Also: interpersonal.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1935/…
    – apaul
    Commented Jun 13, 2018 at 4:19
  • As HDE 226868 already said: Has been proposed a zillion times and has been (for IMO good reasons) never been implemented. The thing is not even a dead horse, it reached the state of undead.You can absolutely ask to get feedback (and if you ask nicely, sometimes you get it), but nothing more.
    – Thorsten S.
    Commented Jun 14, 2018 at 2:30
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    In response to your edit: If you'd like feedback on a particular answer, you can always ask in the chat room :)
    – Tinkeringbell Mod
    Commented Jun 16, 2018 at 11:40
  • Presumably when someone downvotes an answer, they have a reason. Asking a downvoter articulate the reason not only provides some education, it makes the downvoter think a bit more. Which seems like a good thing.
    – DaveG
    Commented Jun 22, 2018 at 17:39

1 Answer 1

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This idea has been proposed, discussed, and arguably talked to death across the Stack Exchange network, and it tends to get rejected each time. There have been plenty of objections raised:

This last one is very, very relevant on IPS, because we have a strict comment policy. Comments aren't actually comments anymore; we actually got rid of the term entirely on the main site. Having people say "-1; I downvoted because I disagree with [X Y Z]" is completely antithetical to our philosophy of having comments be constructive, and reserved for suggesting improvements and requesting clarifications.

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  • Would it be useful to put more of that perspective on the "Add Comment" button? E.g.., change the label to "Clarify question" or "Request info/Clarify question" at the risk of making the button unwieldy?
    – VWFeature
    Commented Jun 15, 2018 at 19:20

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