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I was wondering if we should have a small dialog box which is opened when you wish to downvote a question or answer, I feel that if people put in the reasoning for the downvote the community will have a better idea on what is considered a 'Good' Answer.

For example I provided this an answer to this which was just down voted from a +1 to a 0. Now from reading my answer compared to the other answer that has been posted, there are some differences but I feel the meat of both questions is valid.

So I am left wondering why my answer was downvoted. If I had constructive criticism I could use that to help structure my next answer.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I've closed this as a duplicate of a previous proposal which requests explanation for downvotes. Requiring/requesting explanations for downvotes gets requested all the time (ever since the network started up nine years ago), doesn't and almost certainly never will exist. This little popup is the extent of what exists to encourage a comment. \$\endgroup\$
    – doppelgreener
    Sep 7, 2018 at 16:11
  • \$\begingroup\$ Doppelgreener. Fair enough, I still find though that the tool is only helpful if people will leave comments, but that is on the onus of the voter. \$\endgroup\$
    – Matthew Perryman
    Sep 7, 2018 at 16:13
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    \$\begingroup\$ @MatthewPerryman There are certainly those who think that feedback should be required as indicated by the repeated requests for this feature. The best advice for "dealing with it" is to try not to let 1 or 2 downvotes bother you. We all get them. Many questions and answers seem to get these without any discernible reason. If your answer starts to accumulate more than that or seems to be trending that way, the best way to get feedback would be to kindly ask for it below your answer in a comment. It doesn't always work, but sometimes it does. Unfortunately, that is the best we have right now. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rubiksmoose
    Sep 7, 2018 at 16:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ Hello Rubiks. Thanks for the feedback. It's not that the fact I've been downvoted bothers me. It's not knowing why. If the voter solely didnt like my answer there is not much I can do but if thete were errors that could be rectified. I could address it. I can't try to improve without criticism :) \$\endgroup\$
    – Matthew Perryman
    Sep 7, 2018 at 16:23
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    \$\begingroup\$ @MatthewPerryman: For sure I completely get it. In this case, sometimes we get that feedback and sometimes we don't sadly. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rubiksmoose
    Sep 7, 2018 at 17:00
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    \$\begingroup\$ And sometimes it's for the best that no reason is given. If it's not clear why the downvote happened, it's very likedly we'd disagree with the explanation even if it was given. Then that itself has a high chance of turning into an argument in the comments. (For perspective, comment arguments are considered harmful enough that mods have a built-in private warning message to send when someone develops a persistent habit of getting into arguments in the comments.) \$\endgroup\$
    – SevenSidedDie
    Sep 7, 2018 at 17:53
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    \$\begingroup\$ @MatthewPerryman sometimes when I'm in the position of receiving a downvote and wanting to learn something more-specific from it, I'll drop a nicely-worded comment to that effect on the post. Many of us voters are gun-shy about leaving accompanying comments--they can often be very badly received; a signal from the OP that they're receptive to criticism can go a long way in my book. \$\endgroup\$
    – nitsua60 Mod
    Sep 8, 2018 at 14:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks Nitsua60 I'll go do that now. \$\endgroup\$
    – Matthew Perryman
    Sep 8, 2018 at 14:42

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