Comment on question I have flagged

Question

I recently flagged a question as duplicate.

The OP responded in saying they see the overlap, yet still sees the difference in value, following any guidelines I've read on the subject, so a mod should be able to weigh their side.

However, this could take time, and it could be very frustrating to be flagged without a chance to discuss further, even more so without an articulated explanation. The appearance of a flag as a comment furthers the impression of an uncaring flagger.

I've seen many users complain about an unexplained flag.

I would comment back with said explanation, but I lack the privilege to do so. This is in contrast to my own questions and answers, where I can comment.

I believe it should be possible to comment on questions where you have active flags. This would apply for downvotes, except they are permitted later than comments anyway.

Answer 1

I disagree with the feature request.

On Stack Overflow you need a reputation of

• 15 to flag
• 50 to comment everywhere

Whether you agree with the amount of reputation necessary or not, this feature request would enable people to circumvent gaining the necessary reputation to comment everywhere. They would instead just need 15 reputation, then raise a flag and thereby gain the privilege to comment. For example, sockpuppets could be created to abuse this feature.

There's not really a necessity for it in the scenario you describe of duplicate flags. You raise it and if it doesn't really fit, it will probably not be closed as a duplicate. And if wrongfully so, it can be reopened. No need for you, as a flagger, to get involved in a discussion. Instead of discussing with you, the OP should rather make clear why it's not a duplicate, e. g. by editing their question (if they feel the other question is similar enough to lead to a closure, but the answer(s) do not actually help them).

In case of other flags, it's even less useful to get engaged - if you flag as rude or abusive, for example, you do so to let moderators or the community handle it. Better not get dragged into a discussion in these cases.