5

Why has my reputation been reduced by 10 without any visible reason?

I didn't post any answer or question that could have been downvoted. The reputation suddenly decreased from 643 to 633.

I didn't shutdown my laptop yesterday and had this one AU tab open (which had not reloaded). It shows my reputation till yesterday as follows:

Original Reputation

Below is my present reputation. It also shows that reputation change reason is not shown in reputation tab.

Present Reputation

16
  • Most likely you closed the computer after someone just upvoted you, but un-upvotes (almost) immediately. Happens more often.
    – Jacob Vlijm
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 6:45
  • @JacobVlijm But my original reputation was consistent for almost 20 days now. Last 'Upvote/Accept answer' in my AU reps was on March 7th.
    – Dhaval Simaria
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 6:48
  • Are you sure? immediate up+ un- votes are not visible in the overview. meta.askubuntu.com/questions/11819/…
    – Jacob Vlijm
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 6:52
  • @JacobVlijm Very true. Immediate Upvote+Un-vote are not visible but as I said my original rep. of 643 was consistent for almost 20 days. Even if someone downvotes my answer, it should show the downvotes in the reputation tab. In my case no reason is present at all anywhere.
    – Dhaval Simaria
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 6:55
  • Another reason for this could be that a user removed their account? taking a vote for you with them? I am not sure of the exact details of what happens in that situation but it could happen I guess. If it was downvotes, it would show in your reputation tab. Don't worry about 10 rep to much, rep comes and goes, for many reasons, as long as it mostly goes up, you are winning.
    – Mark Kirby
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 7:13
  • @MarkKirby That sounds reasonable. Also I'm not worried about 10 reps but wanted to know the reason. If it is some kind of anomaly then it is a matter of concern because today it took out 10 reps, tomorrow it might take out 100 reps...
    – Dhaval Simaria
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 7:17
  • @MarkKirby if a user was deleted, that'd be mentioned (user was removed), but a deleted post wouldn't show up
    – muru
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 7:23
  • I think this could be caused by an answer being deleted...
    – Zanna Mod
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 7:23
  • @Zanna But I haven't deleted any of my answers. In deleted recent answers tab also it shows nothing.
    – Dhaval Simaria
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 7:29
  • 1
    It could be an old answer that was deleted, not by you but by a review process or the question being deleted. I just tried deleting one of my old answers - I lost rep, no reason was shown anywhere, and it didn't appear in deleted recent answers. I'm trying to test this further... I guess a mod could see all your deleted answers, I'm not sure
    – Zanna Mod
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 7:45
  • @Zanna Appreciate your efforts. So far this sounds the most acceptable reason.
    – Dhaval Simaria
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 7:48
  • 2
    @Zanna meta.stackexchange.com/a/185492/270345: "currently limited to those posted in the past 60 days." Note, it's the post that has to be recent, not the deletion. If this was an old post, it won't be listed.
    – muru
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 7:57
  • yeah that's what I thought, thanks for clarifying and finding the reference @muru - this seems to be the right explanation
    – Zanna Mod
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 7:58
  • 1
    Another case could be that a person who upvoted you in the past got deleted, thus their vote was deleted as well. There's no way of knowing who may have gotten deleted, as votes are anonymous.
    – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 9:23
  • 1
    I guess your problem is fixed now. But fwiw, in order to see negative reputation in the reputation page, you need to check the "show removed posts" checkbox at the bottom of the page: meta.askubuntu.com/questions/7396/…
    – Dan
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 13:11

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

You had answered a question that had been closed as a duplicate. This question was then deleted by three users for reasons that may be clear to them. I could see it in the reputation tab of your profile, but since the question was deleted, maybe you couldn't.

In any case, since in general it is a good idea to keep duplicates around and not delete them, I undeleted the question. You should have gotten your rep back.

15
  • Indeed that must be the reason. Got the rep back. Appreciate your efforts.
    – Dhaval Simaria
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 9:35
  • 3
    the reasons are pretty clear to me too... that question is rubbish and like one commenter said, it could easily have been closed for other reasons
    – Zanna Mod
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 12:02
  • @Zanna for my understanding: what was the question?
    – Jacob Vlijm
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 12:11
  • @JacobVlijm Introduction to Ubuntu for Windows users
    – Zanna Mod
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 12:21
  • @Zanna meta.askubuntu.com/questions/16834/…
    – Jacob Vlijm
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 12:50
  • 3
    @Zanna and what is achieved? That question is indeed rubbish, but we have a dupe target. Keeping the dupe means that next time someone tries to ask that question using the same terminology, they will be directed to the dupe. Next time someone searches using the same wording, they will find the closed dupe and be redirected to the target. Deleting it doesn't help, it only makes it harder for such questions not to be asked again.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 12:51
  • what is acheived is simply that the site has less rubbish. Old rubbish does not seem to prevent people from posting new rubbish, but in the absence of evidence either way it seems at least that we do a pretty good job of cleaning it up. That post wouldn't last 5 minutes if it was posted today imho.
    – Zanna Mod
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 13:28
  • 1
    @Zanna no, it wouldn't and shouldn't. It should be closed as a dupe. There's just no added value to deleting it. Well, apart from causing more work for the mods who have to explain to users what happened to their rep, that is. Dupes are useful. Deleting them only serves to remove signposts. And yes, it's good to keep them around in as many guises as possible to increase the chances of someone with the same question finding the dupe instead of posting the thing all over again.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 13:31
  • 3
    @terdon why do we need signposts to off-topic questions?
    – muru
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 13:42
  • 2
    @muru well, that's actually "too broad" rather than off topic, but anyway, the main argument here is: 1) don't delete things that aren't actively harming the site and 2) deleting makes it more likely that the same identical question will be asked again and we'll have to go through this all over again. Deleting for the sake of deleting just isn't helpful.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 13:49
  • Also, a signpost to a question clearly marked as not being a good fit for the site, is useful since it indicates that this sort of thing is not wanted here. Deleting removes that indication and just invites people to ask the same thing again.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 13:50
  • 1
    @terdon the system only prevents questions with identical titles from being posted and we know that's not much of a deterrent. And by "go through this" if you mean closing and deletion, why would that be a problem? We'd have to go through that irrespective of signposts. And I'd argue that removing any noise at all from search results is actively helping the site.
    – muru
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 13:55
  • 2
    Irs worth remembering though, if its off topic - if you answer is, there's a reasonable chance of closures, downvotes and other such things. If its off topic, flag or close and move on. Don't answer.
    – Journeyman Geek
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 14:04
  • 3
    It's a good idea to keep duplicates of useful questions. Duplicates of undesirable questions are as undesirable as the master question and should be deleted, especially since their presence makes it impossible to close the master question even if it needs closing (which, in this case, it badly does).
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 20:52
  • 1
    @Gilles yes, it does. And I've been talking about this with the other mods and am starting to accept that I was wrong here. I'll be opening another meta discussion about this soon.
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Mar 16, 2017 at 21:01

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