Is it just me, or are some people just unhappy?

[RobertFisher]

I realize this is not a highly technical question, but I just read over the post by Trevor Klein on the new Beginners Guide to Link Building by Paddy Moogan at Distilled. I cracked up when I saw the post had 31 Thumbs Up and 1 Thumb down. I see this regularly on very good posts where someone just had to thumb it down. I wish there was a way that person could anonymously post why they did so just so we could discover their wisdom that we are obviously missing.

It kills me that I cannot find the time to produce such quality work and post it to Moz. I start a ton of posts, but am just too busy with client work to finish them. I finally finished one around ugly directory sites blocking link tracking tools and patted myself on the back for days (Thank you Keri Morgret for your editorial assistance). But, really, is it just that there is someone who woke up from a really rough night and thought, "Why the ___ are all you people so ____ happy?! Arrrrrgggghhhh!!!"

Obviously, there is no correct answer and you are more than welcome to thumb this into hell if things are that bad. Peace.

[GPainter]

Hi Robert,

Quick thought on people not bothering to read the subject is I would suggest moving the thumbs up/down button so you can only vote at the bottom of the article (thus assuming you've read it) and this may help stop thumbs down from just title surfing.

The only argument I do have for thumbs down is spam now and then it's in the comments so would be nice if we had thumbs removed just an opportunity to flag spammy comments.

thanks

[DanielFreedman]

Hey, there are unhappy people in the world.

You got a problem with that? Deal with it.

<<just kidding="">>

Since I'm not the most diplomatic person in the world, I've managed to rack up 59 thumbs down...often for posts that  berate others for black hat or grey hat tactics.

This makes my detractors both wrong and evil.</just>

And I'm sometimes blinded by the light from my halo.

<<just kidding="">>

Seriously, I think there is something to the contention that some people want to express disapproval anonymously.

Two suggestions:</just>

• private response to sender

• private response to Moz staff, who can then summarize and post

[RobertFisher]

Trevor,

Very interesting. When Disqus first made that change, I was discouraged as a lot of times there were scumbags anonymous unhappy people who had to say that Matt Cutts is really satan, etc. and I liked thumbing them correctly. But, I really do get the decision you/Moz made with this. Force people to say something if they disagree. Excellent.

I think the other thing it addresses is the person who reads the title and does not bother to read what was written on the subject. Now, they get no opinion if they can't discuss the subject. Thumbs up to you and the Moz team!

[Trevor-Klein]

That's a great idea, EGOL -- you're absolutely right about some people not wanting to submit criticism in a public way, so offering an avenue for them to do so certainly seems like the TAGFEE thing to do.

[Trevor-Klein]

You're hitting a very important nail right on the head, Robert. We actually have an admin tool for identifying spammy or illegitimate thumbs (sometimes people even hit the wrong button, likely with their finger on a mobile device) -- and one conclusion we've come back to over and over again is pretty simple:

Thumbs down are just a terrible metric.

Someone may have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. They may have objected to a post just because they didn't know what one of the words in the title meant, or because they've had a bad personal relationship with the author. It's a nice idea to have a very simple, very quick way of offering constructive criticism -- but thumbs down just never end up fulfilling that need. To boot, it's far too easy to fixate on a negative metric; we've had authors whose posts did quite well get in touch with us in a veritable panic because they received a few thumbs down. Even worse, when readers see that a post has several thumbs down, their initial reaction is often, "This is bunk, or at least controversial, which would require too much effort on my part. Next."

Case in point: One of our most thumbed-down posts ever was written by Carson Ward, titled "Guest Blogging - Enough is Enough." It was written in mid-2012, and in it he essentially lays out Matt Cutts's exact argument from earlier this year. Seeing Carson's 45 thumbs down without reading the piece first would turn most people away without a second thought, when the post was actually (if you ask me) one of the most important things we published that year.

All this leads to a decision we've recently made: Stick a fork in them: Thumbs down are done.

As of now, the plan is to remove them with the next iteration of the blog, in hopes that people will instead opt for more transparent and constructive criticism in the comments and on social.

[RobertFisher]

Agreed, and frankly to each of you who responded so far, thumbs up (yes, I was tempted too). I read SearchEngineRoundtable and I have to say that  Barry has the patience of Job. I would be telling some of those clowns individuals to pound sand. I cannot leave a comment as I know someone who identifies themself as hurky jerky or missedSEO, etc. will say something that makes me want to get involved in the discourse. Thank goodness anonymity on Moz is a bit more problematic and all is more closely monitored as well. (That is not a knock on Barry, he really does a great job disseminating info). 
So, in the end, I just shake my head and wonder... "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Did you just find out you had intestinal parasites?"

Best

[danatanseo]

Robert, I have thought the same thing many, many times. I mean, how can you thumbs down a post by Phil Nottingham on Video SEO...really? Or better, yet, an announcement of a feature improvement, new tool, or conference discount? Crazy people!

P.S. I was tempted to thumbs down this question just to mess with you, lol. Undoubtedly some negative Nelly out there will do it anyway...but it ain't gonna be me!

[EGOL]

I think that a lot of people are looking for "easy" and when an article or a Q&A response explains that you gotta do hard work, a few people will give it the thumbs down.  Some people might also think that some articles are not as good as others that have appeared on the moz blog or that an article is irrelevant to me and I assume to most other people.

Some people might have constructive critique or negative comments that they don't want to post in public.   These could be very valuable to moz and to authors.  So, a link somewhere on the article where private feedback could be submitted could be a way to collect them.  If this is implemented it should be clear to the communicator that this is not an avenue for private consultations - just a way for you to share something with the author or with moz that might not receive a reply.

[GPainter]

Assume they are using it as an "i disagree" button or they didn't like it or didn't find it helpful etc. Whilst I see where you are coming from I would imagine the thumbs down to be helpful in understanding what people think of posts from a Moz perspective.

As always there is a multitude of reasons of people doing any number of things, you will only give your self a headache trying to work out why people do silly things!  Well done to Paddy though