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Let's say that you have a question that got down-voted. And then it gets edited to try get upvotes. And those that down-voted don't up-vote because they don't see the question has been edited.

Why don't people revisit questions that they down-voted on after a edit for the good? Is it because of a lack of notification? Don't have time?

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    Lead by example: always comment when you down-vote... I always try to comment as well, but alas, sometimes when a lot of messages are in my inbox, I just down-vote the really bad ones (or cocky ones)...
    – Fabby
    Apr 3, 2015 at 11:01
  • In my limited experience, it's a timing play as downvoters don't always identify themselves. But if a question is edited it jumps up in the recent activity and is likely to get noticed then. Also those who approve the edit may upvote the answer if the quality is noticeably improved.
    – Elder Geek
    Apr 5, 2015 at 14:42
  • This is a great point- but as Fabby pointed out, it doesn't apply to drive-by downvotes.
    – 0fnt
    Apr 5, 2015 at 15:17
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    Why focus on down-votes? The same question could be asked for up-votes. An edit may mean that some of those who previously up-voted the post would now think it should be down-voted instead. It all comes down to lack of notification. How would you expect users to react to something they don't know happened?
    – kasperd
    Apr 10, 2015 at 7:07
  • @Fabby Commenting on a post doesn't automatically notify about changes to that post. And sometimes there isn't anything to comment about because either somebody already said what needed to be said or the post may be so poor it just feels pointless even trying to comment. But if you can see how a post can be improved then it is not good style to down-vote it and move on without providing a comment. Any well-intended post shouldn't be receiving down-votes without comments.
    – kasperd
    Apr 10, 2015 at 7:12
  • @ElderGeek Very few users see everything going on in recent activity. It is unlikely that everybody who voted on a post will notice it a subsequent edit through recent activity. As for the edit part, no approval is required for editing your own post.
    – kasperd
    Apr 10, 2015 at 7:16
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    @kasperd: Like I said: in 95% of the cases I comment when downvoting. Only when an answer is obviously bad (but got an upvote) and another answer is obviously good but has no votes yet, I will comment on the upvote and not on the downvote. Downvoting costs reputation, so I tend to use it sparingly.
    – Fabby
    Apr 10, 2015 at 7:21
  • @kasperd Agreed. You'll note I didn't say that everybody or even anybody "who voted on a post" would notice. Just that an edit would be noticed. It's been my experience that someone is always watching newest questions and and edit kicks that question to the top of the list (or so it seems) I've only been paying attention for 15 months so I may have missed something. ;-)
    – Elder Geek
    Apr 10, 2015 at 12:18
  • Leaving a comment on downvoted posts is a good practice, it enables the OP know about why he/she has been downvoted and also he/she may comment after editing the post. Apr 11, 2015 at 13:10
  • Similar discussion on Meta Super User: Concept of “conditional” downvotes? Apr 12, 2015 at 21:41

2 Answers 2

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In my case, it is because of the lack of notification. I am reasonably active on 6 sites and present on a few more. I have no way of knowing if one of the posts I have downvoted has since been edited. While I often leave comments explaining my downvotes and I will revisit them if the OP lets me know the answer's been edited, this is not always the case.

In those cases where the OP did not notify me or where I had not left a comment, it is very hard to remember to find that particular post among the several dozen I read through every day. I do try to check back but it is not always feasible.

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    Actually, busy or not, you are one of the people I was referring to who, I noticed, always reconsider a downvote after a useful edit :) Apr 3, 2015 at 10:45
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    @JacobVlijm I certainly try to. I would love to see a feature implemented which would allow me to choose to be notified when a post is edited. I am sure I often miss many though since the edit might come days after I voted.
    – terdon
    Apr 3, 2015 at 13:26
  • Thanks. I'll try do the same (comment on down-votes and revisit after an edit)
    – user371765
    Apr 3, 2015 at 19:37
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I think it is no more than useful and decent to keep an eye on posts you downvoted. As far as I know, I always do (although "accidents" may happen). I also noticed many other users withdraw their downvote once a post is improved.

You can, and probably should make sure the downvoter is notified of your edit(s) by @ping -ing him or her. That implies however that the downvoter leaves a message. That is also a reason why a downvote IMO should be explained in a comment, besides giving the poster the opportunity to either improve, or explain why the post is as it is.

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