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Is there a way that the +2 editing bonus's existence could be better promoted to new users? This could be especially helpful for students or others new to the field on the more technical sites, where getting the first 50 rep (ability to comment) by asking/answering can be very difficult.

As a lurker and occasional Stack Overflow poster for several years, I had no idea until today that you get +2 rep for every accepted edit. I really wish I'd known this sooner--I'm a native English speaker who likes editing, and when I was a student, it took me forever to get enough rep to comment on Stack Overflow. This was frustrating, because it meant I couldn't ask for clarification on answers.

The most obvious response to that frustration is "just ask or answer questions!" That's WAY easier said than done, especially as a student and on such a mature, active site as Stack Overflow. Most of my questions had been asked already, and I was afraid the remaining questions would be seen as "too specific" and just get downvoted. With the few new questions I knew enough to answer, usually others beat me to it. Or I was afraid my answer would get downvoted because the question was low-quality. (-2 reputation points from being downvoted is a big deal when you're struggling to just reach 50.)

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    It is in the help: stackoverflow.com/help/whats-reputation beyond adding more text somewhere else what did you had in mind? Beyond that there are some posts on MSE, like: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/146472/… I mean. I'm not against doing something better but how would better look then?
    – rene Mod
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 19:50
  • Somehow I didn't notice it in the help back when I joined (or maybe it wasn't implemented yet?) and it didn't occur to me to search on meta since I assumed asking/answering was the only way. I'm thinking some sort of tip which is displayed in a relevant context, and only to new users. One idea is a link/small banner in the top section of the profile page.
    – ecraig12345
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 20:13
  • Another idea which might already be implemented (can't easily check) is that when someone without enough rep tries to click a comment link, display an explanation which includes a link to the rep page. Wording which specifically refers to students/similar would be ideal.
    – ecraig12345
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 20:18
  • Using a sock it is easily verified i.sstatic.net/rVVnw.png and clicking that link brings you on privileges/comment
    – rene Mod
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 20:23
  • Maybe only display this enhanced contextual tip for accounts over a certain age which show some level of activity: page views, upvotes, question attempts which didn't get much interest (0-1 upvotes, but still open--would tend to indicate an honest attempt at a beginner question). ......I should probably just post some of these ideas as a community wiki answer. :)
    – ecraig12345
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 20:25
  • @rene Note that I said "which might already be implemented"... And the enhanced wording suggestion still applies.
    – ecraig12345
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 20:27
  • 4
    I'm not sure if I want to spoon feed humans that are expected to become valuable contributors of quality content.
    – rene Mod
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 20:39
  • If you want 50 reputation only so you can submit comments you probably shouldn’t be submitting that commentary anyways. If your not commenting, with the goal of submitting an answer, your using comments incorrectly
    – Ramhound
    Commented Apr 13, 2018 at 21:30
  • You've got to keep in mind, many people use stackoverflow as part of learning to program. Of course some only care to learn enough to copy/paste (or want people to do their homework), but many others genuinely want to learn. For those, the ability to do things like ask for clarification on answers is quite valuable, and the results also benefit other beginners in the community. There's a good chance that beginners who care enough to thoughtfully engage like that will eventually become valuable contributors--if they're not chased away by borderline-rude veterans early on.
    – ecraig12345
    Commented Apr 14, 2018 at 0:14
  • Tip for your next incarnation: once you have a good rep on one site, any site, then when you join a tough site to crack, it won't matter, because you'll get the 100 rep for joining.
    – aparente001
    Commented Apr 14, 2018 at 1:49
  • "With the few new questions I knew enough to answer, usually others beat me to it. Or I was afraid my answer would get downvoted because the question was low-quality." - If you recognized the fact the question was low quality, where are you answering it, instead of flagging it and taking the appropriate action to improve the quality of it?
    – Ramhound
    Commented Apr 14, 2018 at 15:08
  • @ecraig12345 - Comments are not designed to be used as a learning tool, for the person, submitting the comment. They are to seek clarification, so the question can be answered, not clarify a topic so you can learn. The question and answer serves that purpose (in my opinion).
    – Ramhound
    Commented Apr 14, 2018 at 15:11

1 Answer 1

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I can't see a good way to implement this.

Plus, if it will be too obvious, there are several problems:

  • Suggested edits review queue will be flooded, there won't be enough reviewers. When full (think it's 200 on SO, less on other sites), new edits can't be suggested.

  • People will suggest tons of trivial edits, e.g. just changing "i" to "I" without fixing other issues in the posts.

All in all, I believe that it's better if people need to look for it, not the other way around. This way chances are they're already familiar with the site and their edits will be better than edits by people with no idea how the site works or should work.

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