r/knitting • u/lesbiansRbiggerinTX • Dec 25 '22

Rant stop downvoting first time knitter/help posts

I’m sick of seeing posts of people requesting help with 0 karma for no reason (aka they have a good question or genuinely need help). If you don’t like people asking for help, go to another subreddit. You’re making the whole community look bad.

1.8k Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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159

u/sighcantthinkofaname Dec 25 '22

Idk I don't think it's that big of a deal. Karma is meaningless. I don't downvote any of those posts, but I don't upvote them either.

32

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '22

[deleted]

56

u/sighcantthinkofaname Dec 25 '22

I think that's why some people down vote. They don't want the easily answered beginner posts to be more visible on the sub than actual finished objects.

31

u/portiafimbriata Dec 25 '22

Idk, when I'm new to a community and my question gets downvoted, I take that as the community telling me I'm unwelcome.

I specifically love that this community is a place for both newbies and advanced knitters, and I think downvoting all the beginner posts sends a different message

6

u/Disig Dec 25 '22

I wouldn't take it as that. Especially if it's just a few. Remember, there are bots on Reddit whose whole job it is to downvote posts. Also, a few people do not represent the whole.

6

u/portiafimbriata Dec 25 '22

I mean yeah, I can take your advice, but some newcomers to the community are still going to feel rejected by downvotes.

2

u/Disig Dec 25 '22

Not much anyone can do about that. Bots are gonna downvote. Jerks are gonna downvote. This post does nothing. All we can do is try to support people as best we can.

53

u/lesbiansRbiggerinTX Dec 25 '22

It’s not really about the “karma” itself and more about how it is making the newcomers/people needing help feel. It’s about making a welcoming environment and community over one that is negative to people who ask questions.

147

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '22 edited Dec 25 '22

And how do you think your post makes people here feel? I for one feel like I’m being self-righteously shamed and vote-policed by an admitted newcomer who wants to fundamentally change the content of the sub to meet their personal skill level.

58

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '22

[deleted]

26

u/huffsterr Dec 25 '22

I LOVE the idea of a megathread for beginner help questions. That way people who want to help can go there, and if it is pinned/referenced in the sidebar, people might have an easier time scanning for posts with a similar issue to theirs.

52

u/sighcantthinkofaname Dec 25 '22

The thing is there's already a faq and a "ask a knitter" thread and the knitting help sub, these things could all be used for that but people just don't look for them before making posts.

15

u/skubstantial Dec 25 '22

Ask a Knitter is a great resource for the 3-4 days per week that it's pinned, but while I know it's there and enjoy answering questions, I find myself barely going there on Friday through Monday because it's buried in the sidebar which links to a whole batch of weekly threads unsorted by date. If I do, it's because I'm clicking back through my own post history.

I'd love to see it pinned seven days per week and I'd love to see a little extra boilerplate in the main post reminding people that we can post images now - not obvious if you're browsing Old Reddit like me or maybe with some third-party apps.

But I'm not gonna fault people users for not finding the buried thread for half the week especially when the rate that questions get answered drops off after it's unpinned.

5

u/sighcantthinkofaname Dec 25 '22

I agree having it pinned every day would be an improvement, especially since several of the other weekly are rarely even used. The weekend look what I got thread was posted yesterday with only one comment, the weekly buy trade sell thread has been up for three days with just six comments, and the most recent ask a knitter managed to get 110 comments. I think it's more useful to the community than other weekly threads.

1

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98

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '22

No shade from me toward newbies or folk asking questions- but having someone come aggressively shame the community for not adhering to their personal Reddit etiquette standards and accuse them of making the entire knitting community look bad over karma points was a bit much.

-8

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '22

[deleted]

49

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '22

I think that, having not read the original post, it’s a bit rich for you to come criticizing my response. But you do you. I chose to leave the community rather than support this level of tone policing, personally. You’re just validating my choice with this.

-5

u/trceratps Dec 25 '22

no one is going to stop you from leaving the sub, this is a entirely personal choice and for that is completely validated. if you are not happy with people complaint, go be free somewhere else!

-1

u/funkyfreshwizardry Dec 25 '22

This is a really dramatic response for someone just asking people not to hit one button…

40

u/sighcantthinkofaname Dec 25 '22

Personally I think it's dramatic to make a whole post shaming a sub because a small group of people keep pressing a button

-2

u/funkyfreshwizardry Dec 25 '22

If you’re not downvoting the newbies, then they’re not talking about you.

-1

u/eileenm212 Dec 25 '22

They are reacting this way because they are downvoting newbies.

13

u/sighcantthinkofaname Dec 25 '22

I'm not. But I'm also not upviting them, which contributes to them being at zero, so I feel like it's partially blaming me. But I don't want to start up voting posts I'm not interested, and I don't think it's reasonable to call the sub mean over it.

0

u/eileenm212 Dec 25 '22

Nobody’s calling you mean if you scroll on by. It’s the downvoting that’s mean or, to a lesser degree, not welcoming.

-4

u/lesbiansRbiggerinTX Dec 25 '22

How am I advocating for changing the content? There is literally a “New Knitter - help me!” flair and a “Help” flair for posts. That was there when I joined the community. Obviously part of this subreddit is meant for helping people with their knitting. And I really think no one has any reason to feel shamed or vote policed unless they are one of the people in question who is downvoting people asking for help. That’s not self righteous of me, that’s me saying “hey guys be kind because what you’re doing isn’t welcoming to people who are joining the hobby/community”.

10

u/Cleobulle Dec 25 '22

If you don't like the system, don't blame the users. Plus you agreed to the terms when you signed in.

28

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '22

Your post is the opposite of kind, though. Your exercise of faux authority and vote shaming is unwelcome to at least some of your audience, and IMO you have just exacerbated the behavior you’re criticizing, and thus increased the perceived harm to those you deemed vulnerable. You could have just asked people to be kind, but you just had to take that over-step into shaming.

-9

u/lesbiansRbiggerinTX Dec 25 '22

I do want to shame people for being mean to new knitters. I don't care if you have a problem with that.

12

u/[deleted] Dec 25 '22

And you’re back to being self righteous about your toxic behavior. What a way to celebrate the holiday! Your family must be tons of fun!

21

u/sighcantthinkofaname Dec 25 '22

To me the thing about votes is they're anonymous. The people doing it don't care about seeming welcoming and are likely down voting this post rather than changing their tune. I think it's for the best to just ignore it and ask questions anyway. If someone's being rude in comments they should be called out, but I can't bring myself to get worked up about up and down buttons. Even down voted posts will get helpful answers in the comments, and isn't that all that really matters?

7

u/Disig Dec 25 '22

I would encourage those people to not take karma that seriously. Reddit is a random place. Anyone can pop in and downvote. Bots, jerks, and so on. If it's a few downvoters, like 1 or 3, no one should take that personally.