I see, thanks for your response. I think that "there's no such thing as bad publicity" makes sense. It's certainly true that the downside of this site is not that it's drawing people in who don't like it. I think the problem is that the publicity isn't likely to overcome the deficit in work that's likely to result from serious potential clients being turned off. The publicity isn't necessarily bad, but the portfolio website is, if that makes sense.
Still, I thought generally "adding value" isn't contingent on agreement. Do people generally downvote things they disagree with? (Sorry if this is a dumb question, haven't been here for long.)
Sometimes people have a slip of the finger, especially on certain devices (iphones or the like). Sometimes someone just doesn't like you personally. There is no way to completely rid a community of that. Sometimes the phrasing was just really poor. "Low content" posts are sometimes downvoted and, yes, downvoting to express disagreement does happen. Stick around a bit. Get a feel for the place. Learn as you go. Brush it off. The next discussion is a chance to start anew. The size of the place seems to genuinely foster that more than other forums I have been on.
Still, I thought generally "adding value" isn't contingent on agreement. Do people generally downvote things they disagree with? (Sorry if this is a dumb question, haven't been here for long.)