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On this question, I had a comment with 8 upvotes. (The comment was something like "Could the homework tag be missing from your question?" - the answer of the OP is still there ("no its not homework..."))

Checking back to the question now, I do not see my comment anymore. I also do not see it anymore in my activity log.

I've read "Why was my comment deleted?" but cannot match it to my case.

So my question is:

Is the comment actually deleted, or do I just have no permissions to see it? If it was deleted, can I see the reason why somewhere?

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    Comments can be flagged and deleted, just like everything else.
    – Bo Persson
    Jul 20, 2012 at 13:28

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Your comment was not constructive.

The tag is really a meta tag that only exists for historical reasons. Adding it to a question serves no real benefit.

If you don't like answering homework questions and think a question is homework then just don't answer. There are plenty of other questions being asked everyday that need answering. Concentrate on those instead.

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    Thanks, Chris. I can imagine that it is not constructive, I just do not understand why the answer to my question is still there; it makes no sense to have an answer without my question, in my opinion.
    – Uwe Keim
    Jul 20, 2012 at 13:30
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    @UweKeim - the comment was probably flagged and then deleted from the moderator page. The moderator probably didn't see that there were other comments that referred to yours. These now need flagging as obsolete and deleting.
    – ChrisF Mod
    Jul 20, 2012 at 13:31
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    Possibly because someone flagged your comment, the moderator looked at it and agreed. They don't necessarily have to go to the question and read all of the surrounding context and make sure that all references to your comment are also deleted. I agree it doesn't make sense to leave that comment there, but there is no fixed rule that ensures all of a comment's replies are deleted the same way.
    – Aaron Bertrand Staff
    Jul 20, 2012 at 13:31
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    @UweKeim The now obsolete response comment is now deleted as well. Thanks for pointing it out.
    – Bill the Lizard
    Jul 20, 2012 at 13:41
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    Another possibility of why the response was left there - I did not investigate the post and I have no idea when you posted your comment, but it could have gone like this: (1) you asked your non-constructive question (2) the OP saw your question (3) another user saw your question and flagged it (4) the moderator deleted your comment as or while the OP was replying.
    – Aaron Bertrand Staff
    Jul 20, 2012 at 13:45
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    It's also possible for comments to be deleted automatically (without moderator intervention) if multiple community members flag them @UweKeim.
    – Josh Darnell
    Jul 20, 2012 at 13:45
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Just addressing a part of the question that the other answers did not.

Is the comment actually deleted, or do I just have no permissions to see it?

Yes, your comment was actually deleted.

If it was deleted, can I see the reason why somewhere?

I don't know of any way to track comment deletions, no. As far as I'm aware, they are obliterated. I would guess the only way to know for sure would be to ask the moderator who confirmed the flag (or saw it naturally and deleted it) - but good luck figuring out who that was. In this case, the reason should be obvious anyway: the question is not constructive. How does asking someone if the question is homework help anyone or change anything?

As another answer stated, if you think it is homework and you don't want to help someone with their homework, don't answer. Personally, I feel a lot more taken advantage of when people struggle with simple concepts they're paid for, and ask for help here that helps them get paid at their job, than when students ask for help in passing some course - which they may never use in their career - because they partied too late or because their instructor sucks. (Sometimes they're just lazy students, but <shrug>).

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  • Knowing if a question es homework is useful to tailor the answer, IMHO.
    – Pablo H
    Jan 25, 2023 at 16:30
  • @PabloH I don't see how. Are you trying to help the user solve a problem? This was 10 years ago now but in the past decade I still see the same thing: people tend to ask "is this homework?" in a combative and negative way.
    – Aaron Bertrand Staff
    Jan 25, 2023 at 16:33
  • I answer one of my students differently to my colleague-for-20-years. I expect someone asking a homework question to lack some of the basics and include it in the answer. I'd omit that, and even other "they probably already tried" stuff, if not. But it's one of several clues to guess OP's background and question context.
    – Pablo H
    Jan 25, 2023 at 17:31
  • @Pablo These are strangers. You shouldn’t assume any existing knowledge whether they say it’s homework or not. The point of my answer is that you shouldn’t need to badger them for this information. If you absolutely need to know before you can answer, maybe skip it.
    – Aaron Bertrand Staff
    Jan 25, 2023 at 18:32
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Your comment asked if the question was homework and the OP responded:

no its not homework. I am new to C# and wanted to work out a programs

That makes your comment obsolete: It may have been a valid question, but it got answered now.

I suppose several users flagged your comment as obsolete. That deletes it.

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