Sometimes when I come across a question I like, I usually upvote it. When I com across a bad question, I leave a comment or edit it.
The thing is, do I really have to think before I upvote a question? Upvoting is good, but I am worried if I upvote too much something bad will happen.
Here's a fairly good treatment of the question (and related voting) from the Big Meta (meta.stackoverflow) : When Should I Vote? .
It covers the bases pretty well.
That being said, I think as long as you vote in good conscience, things will work themselves out in the system. (It's Stackexchange Karmic balancing!)
You can vote flexibly and playfully, but take it seriously. Your intention should ultimately align with the larger interests of the site or community. Not everyone is made in the same mold, has the same approach, or behaves identically -- but there are many models of good citizen, and many ways to provide a positive contribution.
Personally, (and subject to change) I don't downvote much. If I can improve (through editing) a question or an answer, I'll do that. If it's irremediably bad, I'll flag it. If it's technically wrong, or just bad advice, then I'll down-vote it. (Assuming I have votes left, which I don't.)
To the Great Sea of Askubuntu, we're just statistical motes. One user won't break the system, or bring Evil upon the site or her/his self.
If everyone is a dope, things will break. ("Dope Corollary" of Kantian Categorical Imperative.)
So: Don't be arbitrary, but in upvoting, you add reputation to the Great Reputation Bucket. It's hard to do harm this way.
No, nothing bad will happen if you upvote a question. If the question is well-written and you feel it deserves an upvote, then don't hesitate to click the upvote button - there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
What makes a well-written question? Well, feel free to use your own criteria, but here are a couple of suggested questions you might ask yourself:
Voting is mainly for sorting content so that good content is sorted above bad content. Obviously, we want good content to be sorted above bad content, so if you vote for things you think are good, then all is good and you are helping the site. But if you are not serious and vote for whatever, even really bad posts, you are not helping the site. Also note that you do not want to trigger the serial voting alarm.
I for one take voting very seriously.
I upvote questions that I answer as clearly I found them interesting enough to answer them. Ideally they should meet the minimum guidelines. This might be after editing/obtaining the bare minimum information required to understand/answer the question.
Answers I typically test for functionality prior to voting unless I already know what the result of the proposed course of action will be. I will often downvote, edit or leave a comment on incomplete/inaccurate answers with an eye towards improving the site. If I find an answer that is non-functional or out of date I will normally leave a comment and if possible provide a correct answer.
IMHO This results in better quality overall.
Well, upvoting is just that: up voting.
If you have 3 candidates to choose from, and vote for 2 instead of 1, it just lowers the weight of your own vote, since, after all, it's only the relative numbers that make a difference when voting, not the absolute numbers.
Other than that, really, feel free to upvote whatever you feel should be upvoted...
All other answers say one common thing. up voting is not dangerous. If you feel that a question is useful, upvote it.
B for but, B for bounty!! When a question is under bounty, think a bit more before upvoting/downvoting its answers. Votes on question dont make any different difference, but two random upvotes may result in bounty being auto awarded.
It's your choice.
Everybody is free to upvote for any reason they like. It is your own personal choice. Since upvotes are free, there is no penalty for upvoting anything and there really isn't all that much harm, either (see below for exceptions). You may upvote if you think something is well-written, it's a good question, or you just find the topic interesting or think it should have more attention. You can use whichever reason you think is appropriate. You can give it as much or as little thought as you like, though of course we might suggest that you don't do it indiscriminately, or using a random number generator, or anything like that, and it might be a good idea to have some sort of beneficial, sensible reasons for how you upvote.
I upvote things when I think they are important - that they are good examples of questions or answers and they are what future visitors would benefit most from seeing. But that is my choice.
The only exception to the "however you like, it's your choice" rule is that you may not upvote in order to game or spam the system. That is, you cannot have multiple accounts and use them to upvote each other, or upvote everything your friend does simply because they are your friend. While this sort of gaming the system can be difficult to detect, this site uses various methods to detect what it calls "serial voting".
