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Situation:

  1. A question that invites opinion is asked.
  2. A few people give answers, one of them is a new user
  3. The question is closed before any voting
  4. The new user's answer appears in review.

Options

Comment I don't think it's worth asking the new user to improve their answer - it would effectively be asking them to add debate to their opinion. I can't think of much to say other than politely explain the situation to them, advising them not to answer (or ask) subjective questions in the future.

Upvote I shouldn't upvote the new user's answer - I don't want to join this debate. This debate should stop (and although I don't feel strongly, I probably wouldn't choose this answer as the best). Upvoting all the answers is fair but inappropriate.

DownVote I don't think I should punish the new user with a downvote for honestly trying to help, so a downvote is unfair.

Don't know Pressing Don't know simply leaves the problem in the queue for someone else, so this can't be the permanent advice to all reviewers.

Example: This answer from this discussion about use of syntax.

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    I suggest going with politely explaining the situation and advising them not to ask or answer subjective questions in the future.
    – BoltClock's a Unicorn Mod
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 12:45
  • Done. (Diamond mod decisions should are implemented without delay!)
    – AndrewC
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 13:26
  • Which review queue is this in reference to? Different queues would (potentially) be handled differently. You imply "first posts" but haven't actually said it.
    – Servy
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 16:35
  • It was the user's third answer, no questions yet. They only had 11 rep. It was in the low quality queue because there's only one sentence apart from the code.
    – AndrewC
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 18:27

1 Answer 1

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A new user answered a poor question in good faith? Well as BoltClock's a Unicorn already mentioned, it's a perfect opportunity for a polite comment, explaining the situtation and educating them on our silly ways.

Something along the lines of:

Thanks for being helpful and answering questions. The question you've answered has been closed because this is the sort of thing that results in lengthy debates rather than a solution to a problem someone has. I'd like to advise that in the future it's worth avoiding these questions that are about opinions or where there's controversy because they're likely to get closed and deleted (so also any reputation you earned answering them would then disappear). - AndrewC 1 hour ago

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  • @AndrewC Comments are ephemeral, and they might go away at any time, especially on closed questions (they will be deleted too, when the question is). I thought yours was awesome and worth preserving on Meta, thanks for taking the time to help out new users.
    – yannis
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 14:47
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    This made me laugh - I count four self-referencial jokes in one post. I thought it was awesome. Thanks for brightening my afternoon, and thanks for taking the time to help out inexperienced reviewers!
    – AndrewC
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 14:55
  • @YannisRizos and how does one go about when one has had a question closed and disagrees / fails to comprehend hwo the reason behind closing said question is applicable?
    – tony gil
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 15:30
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    @tonygil You can either post a question here on Meta, or ask people in chat, we have a room dedicated to community moderation issues, The Assembly or you could try one of the language specific chat rooms on Stack Overflow. I'd say first ask in chat, and if you aren't satisfied by the responses then ask on Meta.
    – yannis
    Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 15:34

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