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I think the most highly voted answer to this question is not a good idea in that one should not really be copying files from a JDK and moving them to a JRE.

I added an answer and a comment to that effect, but my concern is that a user may see the high votes on the original answer, assume it is a good idea, and try it.

Can I use flagging to bring this to a moderator's attention?

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  • 14
    No. Just downvote.
    – Bart
    Aug 19, 2013 at 16:24
  • I'm not an expert, but are you saying it is wrong, or just a bad practice?
    – psubsee2003
    Aug 19, 2013 at 16:24
  • I think it is very bad practice. It may work though.
    – Codey McCodeface
    Aug 19, 2013 at 16:25
  • 5
    Don't flag wrong answers for mod attention, no. Also - is your link pointing to the right place? It's linking to another answer with score of just 2 that doesn't seem to be a bad answer itself.
    – JonW
    Aug 19, 2013 at 16:26
  • Yes I added that answer as I thought the accepted answer was not good. That was over 12 months ago.
    – Codey McCodeface
    Aug 19, 2013 at 16:28
  • 7
    This kind of issue is exactly why I think visible upvote and downvote counts should be the default (rather than a 1000-rep privilege). Many upvotes along with some downvotes would suggest an answer that looks good (to the upvoters who do not try it) but that is bad (as discovered by the people who try it and then downvote it). Mixing the votes into a single, summed count obscures those informative downvotes. (Having one fewer upvote is not the same thing as having one more downvote, but in the default view those situations are indistiguishable.)
    – A.M.
    Aug 19, 2013 at 16:32
  • I think something extra is certainly needed as I think I followed what I should do but 12 months later the same answer looks like it is much better than all the rest.
    – Codey McCodeface
    Aug 19, 2013 at 16:37
  • Downvoting this answer would be wrong, just follow the link to the java.net site. SO exists to provide such non-intuitive solutions.
    – Uphill Luge
    Aug 19, 2013 at 17:02
  • 8
    @UphillLuge Downvoting an answer because you feel it is not an appropriate solution to the given problem is not wrong. If others disagree with this user's opinion that this is a bad answer then they won't downvote it, they will upvote it, and the end result is an indication of whether the community feels this is a good solution or not.
    – Servy
    Aug 19, 2013 at 17:05
  • This discussion is somewhat analogous: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/158741/…
    – user200500
    Aug 19, 2013 at 17:07
  • 2
    Similar example: this question has an accepted answer currently at +131 -8. The accepted answer is terrible advice and could cause potential data loss to anyone who follows it; several others are inferior or downright wrong. I don't know what else I can do other than what I have already done: down-voted it, commented why, and posted a competing answer.
    – Aaron Bertrand Staff
    Aug 19, 2013 at 20:28
  • This is especially problematic on the smaller sites where questions have been migrated from larger sites. Wrong answers have large numbers of upvotes and no hope of ever being voted down significantly on the smaller site. For instance the best answer here has 19 upvotes in 15 hours. I would consider 19 upvotes on the garden site as enormous and would take years to generate.
    – Randy
    Aug 20, 2013 at 8:03

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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No, don't flag it. Moderators do not evaluate answers for technical merit. Downvote it, and leave a comment explaining why you thing the answer is wrong or bad.

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  • 6
    I added another answer 12 months ago and left a comment. I think there is a general problem that the process of downvoting, commenting and adding another answer doesn't result in much of a change.
    – Codey McCodeface
    Aug 19, 2013 at 16:43
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Can I use flagging to bring this to moderators attention?

No, you cannot. It is not the responsibility of moderators to judge the technical accuracy of answers.

If you see a highly upvoted post that you feel is wrong you can do any combination of the following:

  • downvote
  • comment
  • post a competing answer
  • draw attention to the post through:
    • external sites (i.e. social media) to allow others to vote on the post using the new information you're providing
    • a bounty to draw attention to correct answers to the post
    • a relevant chat room
Improve this answer
6
  • Well, yes you can flag it to bring it to moderator attention, you just shouldn't.
    – Cole Tobin
    Aug 19, 2013 at 17:53
  • And bring it up on meta and/or in chat.
    – Monica Cellio
    Aug 19, 2013 at 18:08
  • @MonicaCellio You shouldn't really be making a meta post just to draw attention to a post for the sake of garnering up/down votes. As for chat, sure, that's appropriate.
    – Servy
    Aug 19, 2013 at 18:13
  • @Servy what about telkitty?
    – Cole Tobin
    Aug 19, 2013 at 20:45
  • @ColeJohnson What about it?
    – Servy
    Aug 19, 2013 at 20:49
  • @Servy "it". You have no idea how hard I'm laughing now!
    – Cole Tobin
    Aug 19, 2013 at 20:52
0

No you should not flag. Flagging is used to alert moderators, letting them know that the post contains a serious issue - such as ads, adult content, abusive language, etc.

Downvoting can be used when the answer does not contain a good answer or enough material such as in this situation.

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10
  • Ehm, why the downvotes for this answer? It is essentially correct, isn't it? Flag for stuff that really requires moderator attention. Vote for all the other stuff. Seems sensible to me.
    – Bart
    Aug 19, 2013 at 16:54
  • 1
    Maybe it lacks some stuff too. :D
    – Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan
    Aug 19, 2013 at 16:56
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    @Bart - beacuse the first sentence explains what downvotes are for, but doesn't say whether to downvote the answer or not, and the second sentence is just... confusing and/or unnecessary? Because at best it rehashes what others have said, and at worst, isn't a clear answer?
    – LittleBobbyTables - Au Revoir
    Aug 19, 2013 at 16:58
  • Its was an example, the answer was the second paragraph. After the edit
    – Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan
    Aug 19, 2013 at 17:01
  • @LBT Myeah, it's not the clearest of answers. Maybe I'm reading too much into this.
    – Bart
    Aug 19, 2013 at 17:05
  • 1
    Well, I am trying my best! Will take some time though.
    – Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan
    Aug 19, 2013 at 17:08
  • @AfzaalAhmadZeeshan Keep it up. Don't be discouraged by some downvotes. With some effort you'll get there. ;)
    – Bart
    Aug 19, 2013 at 17:17
  • True, now I really understand that you guys also had to go through this step! :) Will try to post usefull content in near future :) Right now, I am learning about how this site works, what is allowed and whats not. So it will take time but isn't impossible! And thanks for encouraging me brother.
    – Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan
    Aug 19, 2013 at 17:19
  • 1
    Well I upvoted because I feel we should encourage new users to participate. To every average user, just because he is a new user doesn't mean his responses are bad. Yes, many StackOverflow questions are like that and need to be removed, but this was an honest attempt at answering and although it's missing some stuff, it can still be edited to be better. Sure, votes signify agreement/disagreement, but what is there to disagree with here? If you have over 2k rep and you feel something minor is missing and editing it in wouldn't change the answer, edit the answer!
    – Cole Tobin
    Aug 19, 2013 at 20:51
  • True! when I started using this site, I was discouraged totally, if I get too many downvotes and my answer is deleted I get a ban, my answer is not enough I get downvotes and alot of criticizes. But I hope I will get better! :) @ColeJohnson
    – Afzaal Ahmad Zeeshan
    Aug 20, 2013 at 7:27

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