Should I keep my answer there?

Question

(question revised inline)

People with over 10k reputation would see that most of my deleted answers are filled with Body must be at least 30 characters; you entered 53. They are deleted, and the shorter message make my vision clear the next time I view a similar question.

I recently received a private message from a moderator. Since it's a private message, I won't post it here. It said that I removed or defaced a lot of content from my posts, and the whole point is telling me that I possibly should not delete my own posts.

I then replied that I actually delete two different kinds of answers:

1. down voted or zero voted (except when it is an accepted answer)
2. answers of the closed questions

And now I have undeleted two answers, for example:

1. Why doesn't Array class expose its indexer directly?

2. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14078723/why-is-c-said-to-be-an-unsafe-language-while-c-sharp-is-a-safe-one/14080289#14080289

I've started a bounty for a question: Porting code containing unsigned char pointer in C to C#

And it finally got an answer which was accepted. Although my answer is before the accepted answer, it seems to be a duplicate. So it's the next one I plan to delete.

My question is should I keep my answer there?

Shouldn't I delete them if the question is closed or I think my answer possibly is not considered good and that is why they are down voted or zero voted?

Answer 1

The simple fact is content is valuable regardless of the number of votes. Just because it didn't help the OP, members of the community did not vote on it, or the question got closed does not make it any less valuable, so by deleting it you are doing a disservice to anyone who views that question in the future.

I believe there are only 3 reasons to delete your own answer

1. Technically inaccurate - specifically the answer contains incorrect information that will do nothing but confuse someone in the future.¹

2. Answering the wrong question - this is close to #1, but I separated it because there is a slight difference. If the OP changes the question, or you have misunderstood the question at the beginning, then the answer isn't valuable and could lead to confusion in the future.

3. Duplicate answer - if you post something that is exactly the same as another answer (and does not offer any new or different information), then it can be deleted since there is no real loss of info.

Deleting answers to closed questions doesn't help anyone. Closed questions are still questions, and the answer might help someone in the future. And just because something is closed doesn't mean that it won't get reopen in the future. It is not uncommon for questions to be closed incorrectly, and as the "rules" of Stack Overflow change, they might find that the close reason doesn't fit with the new rules and get reopened.

^{1 - If the technical inaccuracy is due to a common misconception, sometimes editing the answer to note it is wrong (and why) can be just as valuable as a correct answer since it attempting to correct the misconception. I'd hesitate to delete answers like this as well.}

Answer 2

Generally, we would prefer you not delete potentially helpful content. Just because a post has not gotten any up votes does not necessarily mean it's not helpful. Even a down vote or two might not be such an indication.

That said, some reasonable paring down of lesser-valued content occasionally is not a horrible thing to do; but the question will be, "What is reasonable?" The answer: "That depends."

If you are deleting what you honestly think are 'weak' answers to questions that have some other answers that are of high-quality, and you didn't get up votes or other attention, then I'm not horribly against it now and then.

But if your answer is the only one, for instance, and is a quality answer; I would personally prefer you not delete it.

I think I'm the one who sent you that moderator message, perhaps. My biggest concern is that you just be careful about what you delete. :)

Answer 3

Generally speaking, your first impulse (I don't want to leave a bad answer here) is good. But you have some execution issues.

• first, if the question is closed, and you would have left your answer there if the question wasn't closed, leave it there. There's nothing necessarily wrong with your answer. It's possible that while the question is closed it will be edited and you may need to change your answer, but the question may just stay closed. Deleting your answer could hurt you (giving up rep it earned, or moving you closer to a question ban) and it definitely hurts others who are interested in the topic you have answered. Leave it.
• second, if the answer is not good, either by your own evaluation or by other people in the form of downvotes, fix it. Deletion on the stack exchange sites is not like deletion elsewhere: the bad content can still count against you. Edit the answer and make it better. You obviously know how to edit, since you've vandal-edited all your content away. Instead, edit in better content to deal with that impulse not to leave bad answers in place.
• third, if you've learned that you don't always have the best solution to certain kinds of problems, take your time before answering. Don't try to play Fastest Gun in the West. Wait, see if others answer, fire up an editor and try writing and running a little code sample, and then come and deliver a good answer that you can stand behind. An answer you never write doesn't need to be deleted; go for a few good answers instead of a lot of so-so ones with a plan to delete the ones that aren't appreciated.