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    • CommentAuthorMartin B.
    • CommentTimeFeb 2nd 2011 edited
     
    http://mathoverflow.net/questions/54076/notation-for-a-representable-functor

    1) Why all those downvotes?

    (By the way, some MO member obviously started to downvote other questions of me, and not at all recent ones, but rather older and popular ones, after having seen this specific question ...)

    2) Why did someone even vote that this question is offtopic? Isn't it acceptable to ask where such a widely used notation comes from?

    3) How can I improve this sort of question?

    Thanks.
  1.  

    Well, Martin, I'm sure you have your suspicions as to who that MO member is. If it's who I suspect, I wish he wouldn't use downvoting in that way, apparently for spite. It wouldn't be the first time he did that.

    There is nothing wrong with a reference request, but for this type of question, you might consider making it community wiki. From the FAQ:

    "A question should be made community wiki if you don't think that people should gain reputation for their answers. A typical case is requests for references where it is the reference that is being judged by the voting system rather than the person who supplied it."

    • CommentAuthorMariano
    • CommentTimeFeb 2nd 2011
     

    I don't understand why one would think people should not get 'points' for answers to that question.

    • CommentAuthorMartin B.
    • CommentTimeFeb 2nd 2011
     
    @Todd: I don't suspect anyone. I just wonder what has gone wrong. Concerning the CW mode, I agree with Mariano.
  2.  

    This is somewhat aside, but moderators have tools to investigate suspicious voting patterns. If you have suspicions that you have been wronged by the voting system or some individual voter, you should contact the moderators at moderators@mathoverflow.net.

  3.  

    Yeah, on reflection I'm not sure I really understand that answer to the FAQ either. But could it be that the downvote was because the voter thought neither the question nor an answer deserves any reputation points (in effect agreeing with that FAQ answer)? Certainly I see nothing "off-topic" about the question.