18

I can answer my own questions instantaneously! That's Awesome! The problem is, a lot of the time, when I answer my own question, if it doesn't get any comments or a competing answer, I can... well, I can kind of forget about it. Often, I don't even realize that I haven't accepted my own answer until I see my accept rate starting to dwindle and start digging through old questions in search of a fix.

I don't think doing away with the 48 hour waiting period before accepting a self answer is a good idea. It allows a chance for someone else to see the question as 'unsolved' for a few days, and sometimes, a competing answer can be better than the one I'd written myself. The waiting period helps to encourage those competing answers to be contributed, as answering a question with an Accepted Answer already can be intimidating and feel pointless.

Instead, how about reminding me, say... a week after asking/answering a question using this shiny new button that I haven't accepted my own answer yet? A simple inbox alert similar to the Badge Award/Bounty Expiration notifications seems appropriate here, and it would help to encourage me to check in on my 'solved problem'.

Improve this question
2
  • 2
    Reading this question reminded me to do this. :P
    – Oleksi
    Jun 20, 2012 at 21:36
  • This is not a duplicate of the linked question. The linked question was rejected (rightly) because it proposed nagging users to accept self-answers and falsely assumed that self-answers should always be accepted and would always solve a problem. This good feature request proposes making users aware when it becomes possible to accept, without nagging.
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Nov 20, 2015 at 15:52

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
-4

I'm not sure what benefit there is for accepting your own answer, unless there are competing answers. If you ask and answer at the same time, that implies you've found the solution to your problem, so you don't need to accept the answer. But you do get notified if someone else answers your question. In which case, you might want to accept either theirs or yours. So the current system, as I see it, notifies you at just the right moment.

So I'm not sure there's anything to gain by adding an extra notification at some fixed time in the future.

Improve this answer
5
  • 9
    I'm not sure what benefit there is for accepting your own answer: When it is the only answer, it indicates to users that arrive via search that the problem has been solved. Sure, they could notice that the asker and answerer are the same, but that doesn't visually stand out. And there is no indication in the list of questions. Often I won't follow a link to a question that I can see doesn't have an accepted answer.
    – Steve
    Jun 2, 2012 at 7:23
  • @SteveTaylor That's not true. The asker gets (perhaps subtly) distinguished both in comments and in answers. See here e.g.; other answerers wouldn't get the blue highlight
    – badp
    Jul 19, 2013 at 22:46
  • 1
    @badp'skitten It doesn't stand out when you're browsing search results though, which is what matters when following a link is the action that follows from it. :P
    – LessPop_MoreFizz
    Jul 19, 2013 at 22:49
  • The amount of answered questions is also relevant if your participating in a site that is currently in beta. It's an indication of site health.
    – Seanny123
    Jul 14, 2014 at 16:08
  • 1
    @Seanny123: While that is true, you don't need an answer accepted in order for the question to be counted as answered.
    – Jon 'links in bio' Ericson
    Jul 14, 2014 at 16:57

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .