[EricH]

Originally Posted by SL8

A teammate under the CD user name 647techangel recently posted a somewhat opinionated post about the IR Board. A user of high reputation neg repped him and now he is 38 points in the red. While I dont agree with what he said, I'm not sure the neg repping was an appropiate response considering major hit on his rep. How does one recover from this sort of event?

Earn positive rep. Or, if it was undeserved...

Originally Posted by Forum FAQ

If you have a valid complaint about reputation, send a private message to Brandon Martus with a link to the post you were given incorrect reputation to. All complaints will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and changes to the reputation are not guaranteed.

More details can be found here. (Pay attention to the last item on the page; I think it may help explain why I say what I say in the next paragraph.)

I think the neg repping for that particular post was not for the opinion, it was for how it was said. Not being the one who gave it (I have yet to give neg rep, though I have thought about it at times, and I hope I never do give it), I don't know for certain. But if it was for the "tone" of the post, it was probably deserved. Certainly whoever gave it thought it was. See, we don't mind opinions necessarily. We do tend to prefer that they be expressed in a polite manner.

Definitely look at the reason for the reputation. Think about why you got it. Act on the reason if it's valid (which it probably is).
Edit: I just remembered this: if you are still unsure why you got it after you read the reason, there is a "reply" button next to the rep which allows you to send a PM to the person who gave it to you and ask for further details.