"As a measure against abuse..."

Why do (some) people take ratings so seriously? Well, starting out one may not have any confidence one can recognize what is good and what is not. Ratings (if done right) can help a photographer learn to recognize more finely what does and doesn't work. Ratings done capriciously can be very detrimental to the new shooter.

Sorry I didn't respond more quickly (jury duty yesterday) but Josh did a fairly good job on my behalf (thanks!) I don't pay much attention to low ratings because I'm a novice so they're the default expectation. Add to that the bots and the fact that someone (LOT of people, in fact) would not like my work even if it were pretty good. It's the occasional indication that something I've posted might actually have merit that's useful information and welcome encouragement.

 

Mind you I'm talking about ratings here--not critiques/comments.

There's also the danger that a preoccupation with low ratings may lead to an over-cautiousness and hyper-conventionality.