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Study Tracks 17,500 Redditors to Gauge Downvote Impact

5/23/2026

Summary

Story summary

Researchers tracked 17,525 Reddit users for 61 days to examine how downvotes affect posting behavior.
The platform shows each comment’s score by subtracting downvotes from upvotes, while karma rises with upvotes and falls with downvotes.
Researchers recorded nearly two million comments across more than 32,000 subreddits and tracked changes for two weeks after posting to assess whether negative feedback alters posting frequency, subreddit choice, or emotional intensity.

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Story summary

Researchers tracked 17,525 Reddit users for 61 days to examine how downvotes affect posting behavior.
The platform shows each comment’s score by subtracting downvotes from upvotes, while karma rises with upvotes and falls with downvotes.
Researchers recorded nearly two million comments across more than 32,000 subreddits and tracked changes for two weeks after posting to assess whether negative feedback alters posting frequency, subreddit choice, or emotional intensity.