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It's probably observation bias or coincidence but lately I've noticed enough questions without upvotes but plenty of answers (or at least one answer) to bother me. In fact, I first noticed it on a question that I answered myself but forgot to upvote.

If a question is worth answering it is usually (not always) good enough to deserve an upvote, so please remember to also upvote a question if you find it interesting enough to answer.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Also questions that attract lots of good answers are often pretty much by definition good questions. \$\endgroup\$
    – Lundin
    Commented Jun 12, 2023 at 14:57
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    \$\begingroup\$ I think members have been asked to refrain from voting while the mod strike is still ongoing, as that is considered a small act of moderation. \$\endgroup\$
    – AJM
    Commented Jun 15, 2023 at 8:06
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    \$\begingroup\$ BTW, I think this time it should escalate to complete contribution strike. Let's see what happens to the company if we (high rep contributors) let their websites rot away. I say "their" because they have definitely shown that the community has no real say in what the company decides, despite their revenues being based almost completely on the huge amount of work put in by free volunteers. \$\endgroup\$
    – LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike
    Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 8:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ As the old say goes "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!" \$\endgroup\$
    – LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike
    Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 8:31
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    \$\begingroup\$ @LorenzoDonatisupportUkraine - Hi, I'm not speaking for pipe who started this topic. I'll say that my view is that questions were not always getting the votes that I would expect for much, much longer (years) than the current "mod strike". Therefore while I realise that at the moment "mod strike" and "Q voting" topics overlap, they didn't always. I think it will help to keep in mind that one issue can exist without the other. As always, we each decide how much voting, editing or other curation-type work we do (within relevant policies on the SE sites e.g. no targeted voting). Thanks. \$\endgroup\$
    – SamGibson Mod
    Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 10:49
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    \$\begingroup\$ @SamGibson Absolutely, this has nothing to do with the mod-strike, and I have no idea how all those comments started. I will flag them for removal. Answering a question helps SO-as-a-company far more than upvoting, so if one should refrain from any activity it would be the answer - not the upvote. \$\endgroup\$
    – pipe
    Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 14:10
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    \$\begingroup\$ @pipe Upvoting is the only platform mechanism (badges are somewhat meh!) that motivates participation (otherwise it wouldn't be deemed so important). It's another "pressure point" for a strike action. But yes, stopping answering is a better "weapon". However stopping upvoting could motivate other users not to answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike
    Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 16:06
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    \$\begingroup\$ @SamGibson I agree with you, there is overlapping. However I became aware of the strike just by noticing that some of my answers got no votes, despite the effort spent. This didn't sound right (they weren't utter crap), so I just searched meta to see if there was some problem and discovered about the strike. So the strike may be relevant to the topic. \$\endgroup\$
    – LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike
    Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 16:10
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    \$\begingroup\$ @pipe Re flagging - most of the commenters above DO think that the strike mentioned has direct relevance to this question. Having admins remove the comment would be accepting your opinion against that of multipl other members. Your opinion may in fact be a superior one in this case, but it tends towards "wisdom of Solomen" territory. \$\endgroup\$
    – Russell McMahon Mod
    Commented Jun 18, 2023 at 13:41
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    \$\begingroup\$ @RussellMcMahon Opinions don't belong in the comment section. If the user truly believe that the moderator strike is the reason, they can easily post an answer where such an opinion can be properly discussed - not by filling up the comment section. \$\endgroup\$
    – pipe
    Commented Jun 19, 2023 at 23:18
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    \$\begingroup\$ @pipe Sorry to disagree, We are on meta here. This is the domain of opinion. Even in comments. Answers are, well, answers to the questions. Comments are also for tangential topics here on meta. \$\endgroup\$
    – LorenzoDonati4Ukraine-OnStrike
    Commented Jun 22, 2023 at 12:43

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Thanks for raising this about votes on questions - I had noticed it too. I agree that if a question is worth answering, then upvoting it should seriously be considered. As you said, that doesn't always apply, but by raising this hopefully more people will think about it.

I'll just add that answers also aren't always getting votes when I would expect it e.g. recently I saw a long-time site member comment on an answer about how good it was, yet they didn't upvote it. How do I know they didn't upvote it? Because that answer had only 1 upvote and it was mine!

For those who want more info about voting, please see this post which is part of the FAQ and covers voting on questions & answers:

When should I vote?

(P.S. Yes, I upvoted this question :) )

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    \$\begingroup\$ If that was me I may have been asleep at the time :-) \$\endgroup\$
    – Russell McMahon Mod
    Commented Jun 13, 2023 at 5:50
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    \$\begingroup\$ Plus, with the mod strike going on, people may not be upvoting/downvoting right now. It's something even non-mods have been asked to refrain from for the duration - see openletter.mousetail.nl \$\endgroup\$
    – AJM
    Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 8:27
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    \$\begingroup\$ @AJM - Hi, As I just mentioned in a comment on the question, IMHO the unexpected low votes on question was happening here for much, much longer than the current "mod strike". Therefore that cannot be the reason for what I mentioned, but as you say, it can affect things at the moment. I would just urge site members to treat them as separate issues & not to link the two topics permanently. Appropriate voting on questions indicates their quality, which can help future readers to choose the "good" questions from search results etc. as well as giving feedback to the OPs. TY \$\endgroup\$
    – SamGibson Mod
    Commented Jun 16, 2023 at 11:01

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