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I've notice that my reputation has been going up and down (small quantities) between visits. I suppose up moves might be explained by accepted edits and the like. However, how can my rating go down without it being an event occurring which would crop up in my recent inbox messages? I'll keep an eye out for this and had specific occurrences that occur from now on.

Examples (all times are in UTC): ~17:00 24/11/2014 956 ~19:10 24/11/2014 955

No reputation change tab information, no inbox message.

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  • I expanded my answer based on the example you give: I still think you're not adding everything up. You don't get inbox messages for all rep change activities, you really do need to go through the rep change log + factor in your own voting activities.
    – Caleb
    Nov 25, 2014 at 8:58
  • See my response to your revised answer.
    – Reluctant_Linux_User
    Nov 25, 2014 at 10:13

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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The reputation tab on your profile will detail all the changes to your total. Viewing the timeline rather that just the graph can be helpful sorting out what happened. For example the time slot you gave (depending on what time zone you gave it in) might be explained by this bit:

rep change timeline

That's somebody removing an upvote on your question after you edited it (-5) plus two positive entries of +2 each making for the overall -1 you see in your total.

If that's the wrong time slot, I suggest you might be forgetting to factor in the -1 rep when you downvote somebody elses answer which are NOT shown on that timeline to protect your privacy (what posts you up or down-vote is not indicated anywhere).

Negative changes typically don't trigger new notifications, although recieved downvotes do appear in the rep activity list and you can see what posts they were on if you click on those events. On the other hand the rep you've given away in bounties seems to be the major down-hits for you with a few minor ones being downvote related. There is also one case of a post being migrated to another site and another deletion or two. Deletion of posts (at least recent ones) will cancel any rep changes they originally provided. I don't see anything out of the ordinary with your profile other than these routine fluctuations.

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  • Yeah I looked there but I don't see anything. I'll keep an eye out and record specific instances as and when they occur.
    – Reluctant_Linux_User
    Nov 24, 2014 at 15:09
  • This edited answer would make sense if the reputation updates don't always take into account when I last saw them. My downvotes is certainly a possibility, I do my fair share of reviewing late answers which although sometimes great, I often think require a downvote. I was under the impression that stackexchange operated in UTC. I'll make sure to record the timezone next time. I don't think anyone is deliberately targeting me, I'm just trying to get why this is happening.
    – Reluctant_Linux_User
    Nov 25, 2014 at 10:10
  • @Reluctant_Linux_User All absolute times you see on the site will be in UTC. I wasn't sure if you were marking the site-time or your local clock time in the example you gave.
    – Caleb
    Nov 25, 2014 at 10:58
  • Well it's winter so they are one and the same (see my profile - I'm a UK resident).
    – Reluctant_Linux_User
    Nov 25, 2014 at 11:49
  • @Reluctant_Linux_User Well isn't that handy? In that case the example I suggested might add up to that is the wrong time block, but the suggestion about including your dowvotes (which I can't see) is still valid.
    – Caleb
    Nov 25, 2014 at 12:03
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The only case I'm aware of where you will receive a reputation increase with no inbox notification is when an answer you downvoted is deleted.

When you downvote an answer, you receive -1 reputation. If that answer is later deleted (by the OP, by a moderator, or by the question it responds to being deleted), you will receive that reputation back, and unless you are a 10,000+ rep user (who is thus able to see deleted posts), you will not receive an inbox notification explaining it. Or more accurately, you will receive an inbox notification, but it will be hidden from you until you have 10,000 rep :)

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  • OK that helps to explain some of the upward moves. I do downvote quite a lot of low quality drive by answers when reviewing new posts.
    – Reluctant_Linux_User
    Nov 25, 2014 at 13:25
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    @Reluctant_Linux_User Good for you! Many users are afraid of that downvote button.
    – user3961
    Nov 25, 2014 at 18:41

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