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Possible Duplicate:
flagged comments disappear instantly ... what's going on?
How do comment voting and flagging work?
Who has the power to delete a comment?

I noticed recently that the moment I flag a comment on SO it disappears. (Doesn't happen on Meta.SO)

I have speculated several possible causes for this below in my estimation of increasing likelihood.

  1. That's how comment flagging works for me because I'm super awesome.
  2. A mod deleted it just as I was submitting my flag the last few times I tried.
  3. That's how comment flagging works now.
  4. A weird bug.
  5. Its still there, its just hidden from the user that flags it.
  6. Something completely different.

Does anyone know?

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  • What was the comment you were flagging?
    – ChrisF Mod
    Commented Nov 15, 2011 at 16:41
  • I offer this comment up for flagging if people want to reproduce.
    – Mat
    Commented Nov 15, 2011 at 16:41
  • 1
    This is or is not answered in this question?
    – Grace Note StaffMod
    Commented Nov 15, 2011 at 16:42
  • @Chris Well the comment's are gone now, and they don't appear in the flag summary so its tough to show you. But they were of the "Your Acceptance rate sucks..." variety
    – Some Helpful Commenter
    Commented Nov 15, 2011 at 16:43
  • @GraceNote I did look through that question before I posted mine. I didn't see anything to explain it.
    – Some Helpful Commenter
    Commented Nov 15, 2011 at 16:44

1 Answer 1

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If a comment gets a certain number of flags (normally 6, I think, but if it has upvotes, it needs more), it gets deleted. Maybe your flag was the one at the limit.

But there are some exceptions: If such a comment contained some strings banned by the developers (like "accept rate"), a single flag is enough to delete it.

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  • Do you happen to have a reference for this?
    – Some Helpful Commenter
    Commented Nov 15, 2011 at 16:48
  • Yes, the words "Accept Rate" in the comment is the most likely reason the comment could be deleted with a single flag.
    – user102937
    Commented Nov 15, 2011 at 16:49
  • @RobertHarvey Nice thanks. Should we add that to the Faq?
    – Some Helpful Commenter
    Commented Nov 15, 2011 at 16:50
  • @Conrad: No reference, other than "I experienced this" and "I heard others saying this", and maybe "I read this once somewhere, but don't remember where". Sorry.
    – Paŭlo Ebermann
    Commented Nov 15, 2011 at 16:54
  • See here: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/99812/…
    – user102937
    Commented Nov 15, 2011 at 16:55
  • @Robert: Thanks, I added this link to the FAQ linked by random.
    – Paŭlo Ebermann
    Commented Nov 15, 2011 at 17:00

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