My main issue with SO is that it has become a rather "snippy" place. The "be nice" ethos just means that the nasty is more eloquent.<p>It's now quite painful to ask questions, there, because someone will pretty much <i>always</i> ding it. Usually, you have no idea why, or who. In fact, that happened to me just a day or so ago.<p>Also, I think that downvoters should be notified when the question/answer is edited, so they can review if the downvote still applies.<p>I once trolled a community (not SO) by writing an obviously inflammatory post, getting a gazillion downvotes, then editing it to be very reasonable, so everyone was on record as having downvoted a very decent post. Petty, but fun (They did not have edit records for posts, but you could see what users up/downvoted).<p>I like the idea of a "Thank You" reaction, but that's really just porcine lip gloss.<p>I think that it would be more valuable to <i>require</i> an explanation for a downvote, even if anonymously. I would have no problem telling folks why I downvoted a question or answer (in fact, when I do, I add a comment, mentioning the reason, unless it is blatantly obvious). As is evident by my HN profile, I am making a point of standing behind what I post. I got rid of my last anonymous Internet account months ago.<p>Standing behind my words has helped me to be a bit more careful about what I post, and that's a good thing.