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I just completed a review for a late post which turned out to be an audit. The answer was supposed to be a comment but based on the user's reputation being 31 I understood that the user did not have enough reputation to leave a comment and based on the link provided I thought it was a reasonable resource for the user to see. I don't know all the rules but I don't know why it should be a privileged to comment on a post and then penalize a user with a low-rep for trying to help someone?

Any light shed on this would be great. I apologise if I have misssed it somewhere in the FAQs.

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    We also don't allow link-only answers, which that audit also falls under. Even so, that answer was border-line spam. It really wouldn't have made a good comment either.
    – animuson StaffMod
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 12:23
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    Many audits are dodgy. I failed an audit yesterday on a question I reread 5 times after I got the "STOP!" warning, and still came to the conclusion that my decision was correct, although the previous decision was also completely defendable. Sometimes the audits are just not as clear cut as they should be, that's the drawback of an automated system. Just continue and don't fail too many as a whole and you'll be fine.
    – Niels Keurentjes
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 12:58

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Answers are for answering the question, and that's all they should be used for - that should be immediately obvious to everybody. If you don't have the necessary reputation to post comments on other people's posts yet then you simply wait until you've gained the necessary reputation, be that through posting actual, good answers, asking good questions, or suggesting good edits to questions and/or answers.

They might be trying to help, but they're not. What they're actually doing is creating unnecessary noise that people have to sift through to get to the worthwhile content. The point of the comment everywhere privilege is to cut down on that noise in comments, too. That's not to say that new users only ever post bad comments, but that they also don't necessarily post comments that are actually constructive.

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  • Thanks, that makes perfect sense. It would really be nice if there was a section where we can train to review posts and answers. Like an audit section where users can go to "train" how to review posts.
    – Clarice Bouwer
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 12:32
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    It's just something that you (hopefully) get better at over time. The more you use the site, learn how things are done and what the rules are, the easier it should become to review because you've got a better understanding of what is and isn't acceptable. I'm not sure how much guidance on reviewing currently exists (there's a lot on the mechanics of reviewing here); there's always the 'Skip' option though, if you're not sure about something that's probably the best choice.
    – Anthony Grist
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 12:46
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So apparently if the user has low rep, they can leave an answer that is not an answer?

If they have low rep, they can disobey our rules?

No, of course not.

The user should get 50 rep (it's not that hard - just 5 upvotes) and then leave a comment. By getting 50 reputation, they have proved that their comment will be useful.

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  • Why could it not be the other way around then? Low rep users can only leave one comment per post and no answer at all until they have x amount of rep? I do however agree with your "getting reputation" part of your answer and appreciate the clarification.
    – Clarice Bouwer
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 12:35
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    @kleinkie No answer at all? How would they get rep if they don't have any questions, then? One comment per post will also not prevent spam at all.
    – Doorknob
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 12:36
  • Whoops, you do have a point LOL! My apologies. Having a tiring day.
    – Clarice Bouwer
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 12:40
  • @kleinkie that's ok, I know how that feels :P
    – Doorknob
    Commented May 23, 2013 at 12:45

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