Shouldn't there be a "Dumb Answer" button along with the "Great Answer" button?

It gets personal enough without that.

Dumb answers are subjective to the person reading them. What one person thinks is a dumb answer might not be such a dumb answer.

If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.
—Thumper wisdom

No, because what someone else thinks is “dumb” might be funny to me, and be just the thing to make me smile when I need it.

I’m not sure that I see the point in doing something mean spirited just for the sake of being mean spirited.
If you don’t like the answer, don’t give lurve.

Nope, there is absolutely no reason for a DA button, unless it stands for Dumbledore’s Army. Even then, I’d be worried about Umbridge finding out.

So many things could be going on the for person answering the question. Not enough sleep, bad day, misreading the question or feeling a tad sarcastic. I don’t judge anyone but the people who are clearly being mean.

Having a dumb button would just be mean spirited.

I see more dumb questions than dumb answers.

This gets asked from time to time (I’m too lazy to link to the myriad former Qs on this subject) and the general consensus is No. Nope. Noperooni. Nopety nope. Why be mean?

I think people get told pretty quickly when they’ve given a dumb answer.

Lol….I like the Thumbs up/Thumbs Down thing on YouTube

And to make it worse Good Answers get +5 Bad Answers get -10…..

The powers that be like positive reinforcement.

don’t like the idea of “celebrating” a bad answer. Better to just let it pass.

Who decides? (And never fear; there are subtle ways of showing disapproval or displeasure here. Watch the pros.)

What a mean-spirited question.

If you have something to say about an answer (or a question), flag it.

It never ceases to amaze me that people will jump right into something and start insulting the members of the group they just joined. What about feeling things out and getting to know people, before making negative suggestions for changes to the site? Take some time to assimilate and to figure out how we do things here.

No. Play nice, damn it.

And now I’m really confused about why this got a “Great Question”.

I would have to press the button on a lot of my own answers. Some of them are bad by design.

“because I don’t think there is such a thing as a dumb question.”

I think you just proved yourself wrong.

Nah, we’re all about the lurve here. No reason to allow passive contempt.

As D.J. says in Sideways Stories from Wayside School, “you need a reason to be sad, but you don’t need a reason to be happy.” If you dislike an answer, it is best to either ignore it or make the reasons for your disagreement explicit. The same does not hold true of lurve, however.

Goodness that is such a bad idea, really. I mean when someone has taken a long time considering what to reply, how to phrase it, how to make sure they are putting their point across clearly and then just to have someone say their reply is “dumb”. How hurtful would that be? I think people would either stop posting or leave. No offence honey, honestly, but this would be a very mean spirited thing to do, and this just isn’t a mean spirited place. You’ll see when you’ve been here a little longer and got to know people a bit better. This is an amazing place.
huggles xx

[Mod says] Please remember that it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable. Personal insults, attacks, passive-aggressive flame-bait, commenting on one’s mother’s choice of combat boots, or anything that is not civil or respectful, will be removed. Thanks!

No. It’s too easy to give an anonymous thumbs down or push a button if you disagree with someone. Far better, in my opinion, to make a comment and explain WHY you disagree. You should be prepared to stand up for your beliefs and put your name behind them, not hiding behind anonymous button-pushing.

I think we’re all adult enough to discuss things instead of relying on a dumb answer button. At least most of the time! :)

No, it’s way too subjective and really, it would change the vibe of Fluther.

This is never going to happen. We believe in positive reinforcement and discussing our differences.

^ ^ ^ Power That Be. Is. Whatever.

@downtide Perfect answer!

Yup, @downtide said it all. A “Dumb Answer” button would embody everything that Fluther isn’t.

I think it would be a bad idea if everyone started doing that. However, I think it is a funny idea and should only be granted to me. I would use my impeccable judgement and wisdom to ensure I used it appropriately. Surely everyone will agree I’m best suited for this task.

Welcome to Fluther.

No.

I use the flag system to get rid of them.

Dumb answers could get +2 or +1 lurve to further add to the passive-agressive nature of the button, perhaps.

That’d be fun.

Or there could be an anti-lurve value. Like mine might look like 9839/4201 or something.

I’m newer here too, and love it that people can have arguments and/or disagree without it getting too ugly. If foulness is what you’re angling for, try the rest of the Internet… you can throw a virtual rock and hit about seventy sites that actively encourage flaming (passive-aggressive and otherwise).