Why do people ask for tech help and never upvote?
Technical contributors spend significant time troubleshooting issues for others who express verbal gratitude but fail to leave an upvote. This lack of digital recognition leaves helpers feeling unappreciated and discouraged, causing some to stop answering questions altogether.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Stop answering questions
- 2Accepting that it is just normal internet behavior and ignore the lack of upvotes
- 3Focusing on the direct verbal thank-you replies instead of point metrics
- 4Stop helping unappreciative people
- 5Walk away from the situation
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Today I spent a decent chunk of time helping two different people troubleshoot their WordPress problems. Both were grateful, said the advice helped, and got their issues resolved — but neither upvoted any of my responses.”source ↗
“I just stopped answering questions, since people can't seem to figure out how Google works”source ↗
“I’ve noticed people don’t tend to upvote that often in tech related subreddits. It’s just the norm. At least you are getting thank you replies.”source ↗
“I answer hundreds of questions here, but don't get many up votes. That's OK though,. to be honest I don't do any of it for the upvotes really.”source ↗
“I am still upset and can't believe he was so disrespectful and yelled at the top of his lungs at me for helping him.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Why do I feel guilty for thinking my wedding was better than childbirth?
- 2How to comfort a high schooler who tries hard but gets bad results
- 2How to deal with emotionally cold and unsupportive parents
- 4Why don't friends care about my wedding as much as I cared about theirs?
- 3Why do I feel so guilty taking time for myself?
- 2Why do I still feel unqualified after years of experience?