Title changed thanks to Kurien!
Edit / Disclaimer (Please read!): I am not suggesting average joe's have the power to take rep away from other people. That is not what this thread is about. Please read the entire suggestion before making a comment about why having a -rep button is a bad idea. The -rep button is merely a creative response to a problem that many would agree exists. Thank you.
I've been a member around here for quite some time but have only recently started to browse the various forums more frequently. As I'm sure any long time reader of the exploit / exploration / whatever forum knows, reading the same exploit posted multiple times can annoying at best, but downright frustrating at worst.
I know there is a Report Post button next to the +rep, but it feels like too severe of an action for somebody who doesn't do their research. While they are a pest, they aren't doing anything terribly wrong and are only trying to help (or farm a couple rep before somebody shows that it is a repost). So in my boredom I made this:
(I forgot to make the borders transparent)
If possible I see a potential use of this being a streamline process for reporting posts. Similar to +rep, somebody could -rep and give a very brief description as to why they believed that. After a certain predetermined number of -rep's occur, the post is deleted (or moved, or made invisible, or simply closed). Whether or not you actually take rep away from somebody is entirely up to you (and is somewhat irrelevant to this suggestion).
I was just looking for a creative way to clear up some of the posts that keep popping up over and over and over and over again. Whether or not this will actually solve anything I don't know, but it sure will make the regular visitors much more happy! Heh.
Note: This isn't meant to replace the Report Post button (unless you are interested in simply making this the new Report Post icon), but rather make a streamlined, less severe, option. How you would handle the abuse of the button (limited number of uses per day per user much like +rep) is entirely up to you.
At the very least I hope you got a chuckle from my idea. Have a good day!