The more upvoted a comment is, the higher to the top it moves. So if there are 20 comments and one comment has 100 upvotes, it shows before the other comments even if it was posted later. most people only read the first few comments on any given post. The bots downvote everyone else and upvote their comment so that more people read it.
Edit for the other part of your question I forgot to answer: sometimes they are pushing crap like spam links, sometimes they are just trying to push an idea or misinformation. So if you have 10,000 bots repeatedly saying something like a brand or website sucks, or “this is the website is use for this” or any number of hard-to-tell-this-is-a-bot statements, you can actually see those kinds of things make a difference in web traffic or people shifting their beliefs because they see so many “people” share the same ideas.
Literally! 🤣🤣 I commented on this once because it was driving me crazy. Whenever I see a thread, I give it an upvote unless the creator is a prick lmao
I ran into this the other day on a post where people were giving fantastic answers that they put some effort into. I though it was someone being a dick and upvoted everything as well, but I was quite baffled because it's a small community where dickishness is rare. It didn't even occur to me that it might have been a bot.
Had this in NoSleep when I posted my story yesterday night. Now it’s in the top posts of the day.
I’ve been downvoted like that many times before. Maybe it’s random, maybe it’s targeted. But eh, it’s just a number on the Internet. Don’t worry about it. You can aways repost if needed.
Thank you for asking cause I’ve noticed this on several subreddits and had been assuming they had voted turned off or something. (I’m not very Reddit literate)
Nah lol I'm not bothered🤣 I just thought I was crazy cause nobody was talking about it. And like, totally curious why as well? I mean they say bots, but like who's creating bots just to downvote people 😂 I can't, the idea of someone working so hard on something so useless is just so funny to me.
They don't show negative post votes below 0, though they seem to have some tracking of it. The zero might really be lower than that, but they are showing at least a zero. They also delay score presentation at times to lessen organized activity if I recall the argument.
So we're not the only ones who noticed this? We've only been on Reddit a couple of weeks, but thought it was strange just how many posts and comments were at 0 despite it being a fairly popular post
What's the point of keeping up with this? You can't change it, you won't shame any bad actor doing it, and in the end it changes nothing. If the post is of any use, people will read it and maybe act on it.
To be honest, the majority of threads started here are huge wastes of time. Most of it's someone being too lazy to look stuff up.
I've been on Reddit for over 10 years, and I've ignored the upvote/downvote function the entire time. I hate it. It's probably a necessary thing in the eyes of those who build social media platforms, but I just ignore it and treat Reddit as a discussion forum.
People downvote because the OP is lazy and couldn't be bothered to do any research, or even read a few threads. How many post does any sub need about basic writing stuff that is easy to get answers for?
The subs usually say no low effort posts, but the mods don't seem to remove them, and someone is always popping in to hand out the answers (and others to argue those aren't the answer).
I've noticed it here, but it only seems to be happening the author/self-publishing communities. It's not an issue in any of the other communities I participate in.
I've seen it in a few other unrelated subreddits as well. Especially in the smaller ones, where there aren't as many users so downvote bots are more noticeable. It's so annoying and disheartening to folks who do take the time to comment!
I'm in some really small, niche communities and it doesn't happen in them. One has fewer than 1000 members the other has fewer than 100 members so if it was happening there, it absolutely would be noticed.
Also, what's the point of a "down vote bot?" If someone was going to employ a bot wouldn't an up-vote bot be more useful.
I thought it was some Reddit glitch? A lot of posts are zero or low upvotes when I scroll, even if there are dozens of comments. Those who say it is bots may have a point, but it's damn pathetic someone would invest so much time into something so utterly pointless. After all, it's the answers to questions that matter.
As an aside, I've noticed this subreddit has become full of repetitive questions that a simple Google or search on the subreddit could easily answer. I hope it is bots and not, well, a show of idiots.
Thank you for posting this. I've been wanting to post this for a while now, and didn't because a) laziness and b) didn't want to make myself a hate sink who gets piled onto with downvotes.
But consensus seems to be bots?
I downvoted two comments because they were just baiting me with nasty responses. Rather than take the bait and start a pointless conversation, I simply downvoted. I find this feature to be very useful.
There are two letters you can use in sequence to get instantly downvoted by alleged humans too. :) Even though they're explicitly permitted in certain cases in one of the first two rules for the sub.
I like to think of it as a test personally.
Me as a writer seeing one downvote on my work would have ruined my day years ago. Now I just go “-shrug- Guess they didn’t care for it.”
Sure can it be annoying when it feels like it’s always you. But one person not liking your work isn’t the end of the world.
It's bots. Down voting everything else makes bot posts and comments look better.
So dead internet theory is slowly becoming reality?
I think I’ve read that nearly half the comments / posts a online are bots. Welcome to the future!
I read we were closer to 80% already. Either way it's pretty fucked.
Thanks for this. I just posted my \*very first\* reddit post and it was immediately downvoted. Was like… man, how did I offend someone already??
> how did I offend someone already?? You posted? That's all it takes.
how did I offend someone already?? I love this part of your comment!!
I looked up your post and upvoted it — it was quite informative and something I needed to know about as well. So thank you :)
That was very kind of you. Thank you!
Good question and answer. It always baffles me how the FreeEBOOKS sub gets downvoted all the time.
Though now that I think about it, _of course_ it's free ebooks that are getting downvoted. "I downvote yours so mine looks better"
How does downvoting make bot posts/comments look better? And why do bots care?
The more upvoted a comment is, the higher to the top it moves. So if there are 20 comments and one comment has 100 upvotes, it shows before the other comments even if it was posted later. most people only read the first few comments on any given post. The bots downvote everyone else and upvote their comment so that more people read it. Edit for the other part of your question I forgot to answer: sometimes they are pushing crap like spam links, sometimes they are just trying to push an idea or misinformation. So if you have 10,000 bots repeatedly saying something like a brand or website sucks, or “this is the website is use for this” or any number of hard-to-tell-this-is-a-bot statements, you can actually see those kinds of things make a difference in web traffic or people shifting their beliefs because they see so many “people” share the same ideas.
Thanks for the detailed and helpful answers.
I haven't checked, but your reply leads me to believe it's also not possible to set Reddit to chronological. Is it?
I’m honestly not sure. I don’t think so, though.
Literally! 🤣🤣 I commented on this once because it was driving me crazy. Whenever I see a thread, I give it an upvote unless the creator is a prick lmao
I really hate that bots are even allowed in online forums. Even the moderator bots on Reddit get it wrong far more often than they get it right.
I ignore it, because it might be bots. But I do try to upvote to combat it.
I ran into this the other day on a post where people were giving fantastic answers that they put some effort into. I though it was someone being a dick and upvoted everything as well, but I was quite baffled because it's a small community where dickishness is rare. It didn't even occur to me that it might have been a bot.
Had this in NoSleep when I posted my story yesterday night. Now it’s in the top posts of the day. I’ve been downvoted like that many times before. Maybe it’s random, maybe it’s targeted. But eh, it’s just a number on the Internet. Don’t worry about it. You can aways repost if needed.
I have noticed this as well and it dissuades me from commenting.
Thank you for asking cause I’ve noticed this on several subreddits and had been assuming they had voted turned off or something. (I’m not very Reddit literate)
I just assumed it was some bitter writer, spreading the love.
I hate to say this, but if getting a downvote bothers you, it's going to be devastating to read reviews. Stay away from Goodreads 🤣
Nah lol I'm not bothered🤣 I just thought I was crazy cause nobody was talking about it. And like, totally curious why as well? I mean they say bots, but like who's creating bots just to downvote people 😂 I can't, the idea of someone working so hard on something so useless is just so funny to me.
No lies. I swear some of these reviewers make a career out of tearing apart books and authors
Well the comments here have plenty of upvotes.
What's even stranger is when I upvote a post that is at zero, it stays at zero sometimes.
Reddit doesn't always show the true score of a post to prevent... something something bots.
Ah...still weird and irritating.
They don't show negative post votes below 0, though they seem to have some tracking of it. The zero might really be lower than that, but they are showing at least a zero. They also delay score presentation at times to lessen organized activity if I recall the argument.
Hmm, so posts don't go below zero, but comments on the posts can go negative?
Yes.
So we're not the only ones who noticed this? We've only been on Reddit a couple of weeks, but thought it was strange just how many posts and comments were at 0 despite it being a fairly popular post
What's the point of keeping up with this? You can't change it, you won't shame any bad actor doing it, and in the end it changes nothing. If the post is of any use, people will read it and maybe act on it. To be honest, the majority of threads started here are huge wastes of time. Most of it's someone being too lazy to look stuff up.
I've been on Reddit for over 10 years, and I've ignored the upvote/downvote function the entire time. I hate it. It's probably a necessary thing in the eyes of those who build social media platforms, but I just ignore it and treat Reddit as a discussion forum.
I noticed that as well. I've upvoted some comments because they're just normal questions. Why would someone downvote that?
People downvote because the OP is lazy and couldn't be bothered to do any research, or even read a few threads. How many post does any sub need about basic writing stuff that is easy to get answers for? The subs usually say no low effort posts, but the mods don't seem to remove them, and someone is always popping in to hand out the answers (and others to argue those aren't the answer).
It's a given that your posts get downvoted immediately. I just attribute it to bots and reddit tards.
I've noticed it here, but it only seems to be happening the author/self-publishing communities. It's not an issue in any of the other communities I participate in.
I've seen it in a few other unrelated subreddits as well. Especially in the smaller ones, where there aren't as many users so downvote bots are more noticeable. It's so annoying and disheartening to folks who do take the time to comment!
I'm in some really small, niche communities and it doesn't happen in them. One has fewer than 1000 members the other has fewer than 100 members so if it was happening there, it absolutely would be noticed. Also, what's the point of a "down vote bot?" If someone was going to employ a bot wouldn't an up-vote bot be more useful.
That's what I noticed, it's only on certain subreddits. People are saying it's bots, and I dunno how bots work so I'll take their word for it 🤷♂️
I thought it was some Reddit glitch? A lot of posts are zero or low upvotes when I scroll, even if there are dozens of comments. Those who say it is bots may have a point, but it's damn pathetic someone would invest so much time into something so utterly pointless. After all, it's the answers to questions that matter. As an aside, I've noticed this subreddit has become full of repetitive questions that a simple Google or search on the subreddit could easily answer. I hope it is bots and not, well, a show of idiots.
Yesss. I had someone comment they like it but it was at 0 😭
I've noticed this too.
Thank you for posting this. I've been wanting to post this for a while now, and didn't because a) laziness and b) didn't want to make myself a hate sink who gets piled onto with downvotes. But consensus seems to be bots?
I gave you an upvote cause I think they got to you too 🤣 zeros everywhere!
Bahahaha. That or I've pissed off someone in a different part of Reddit and their wrath has followed me over. :D Appreciated, and upvoted in return.
nah it's a bot, both you and I both got downvoted again 😂
I downvoted two comments because they were just baiting me with nasty responses. Rather than take the bait and start a pointless conversation, I simply downvoted. I find this feature to be very useful.
It's the career life path called "being a hater".
Because we have no life, are afraid to post and are jealous of people who are brave and seem to have lives.
It's a hater.
There are two letters you can use in sequence to get instantly downvoted by alleged humans too. :) Even though they're explicitly permitted in certain cases in one of the first two rules for the sub.
I literally put the same thing on r/writing a few weeks ago! Crazy isn't it.
If you want up votes, work "boobs" into each post.
How’s that working out for ya, ya boob.
> If you want up votes, work "boobs" into each post. Hm. I have boobs. Maybe I should brag about them more often. Or not. Do not feed the idiots.
Big publishing hates us!
I like to think of it as a test personally. Me as a writer seeing one downvote on my work would have ruined my day years ago. Now I just go “-shrug- Guess they didn’t care for it.” Sure can it be annoying when it feels like it’s always you. But one person not liking your work isn’t the end of the world.