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I've seen this situation arise a few times lately, and I find that it actually annoys me a bit. Take this question as an example. There are 3 comments posted by the same guy (not sure if I should link his profile here directly, or if that would be considered bad form) within the space of a minute that are all asking to check his answer.

One such comment is to the OP directly, and the other two are posted under other people's answers. It's all pointless, and just adds to the noise, when anyone can read the whole question anyway. It also makes me feel like the guy's more concerned with farming reputation, rather than creating an answer that is correct (which his isn't).

I could understand if he was pointing out a specific issue with someone's answer, or if it was a link to an answer on a different question, but it's neither of those.

Are these kinds of comments to be discouraged, and should I be flagging them?

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  • 2
    Yes and yes. Pestering others about your answers should not be tolerated.
    – Frédéric Hamidi
    Mar 4, 2014 at 12:55
  • @Qantas94Heavy Yep, that's a duplicate I couldn't find. Not sure I'd have found it even if I searched longer really. The title isn't the easiest to find. I've voted to close this all the same.
    – John H
    Mar 4, 2014 at 13:21
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    @JohnH: I only knew because it was my own question. :)
    – Qantas 94 Heavy
    Mar 4, 2014 at 13:22

1 Answer 1

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Yes, definitely. These comments are spam. The one on the question is redundant with the actual answer, and the ones on the answers are noise.

Additionally, you may:

  • Comment on the user's answer to tell him to stop. Be polite but firm.
  • Check the user's history; if he's making a habit of it, flag one of their posts and explain what's going on. Moderators may decide to contact the user officially, and even if they don't, it creates a visible (to moderators) record of what the user has done.

A comment on the question would be appropriate only to signal that the answer has been updated in a major way, and even then rarely, only if the asker hasn't commented on the answer; the comment should indicate in what way the update is important (e.g. “Note that my initial code had a security flaw, please check my updated answer”). A comment on another answer would be appropriate only if it responded to a specific issue (e.g. “Your code doesn't work on negative numbers, see my answer for a similar approach that treats them correctly.”). Just saying “Hey, I've answered” is never appropriate

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  • Thanks Gilles. As a moderator, would you prefer I flagged each comment directly or just the question itself, explaining the situation?
    – John H
    Mar 4, 2014 at 13:15
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    @JohnH If you just intend for the comments to be deleted, flag the comments individually. (On SO, with the meta attention, there may well be 3 people who flag the comments so that they're deleted without moderator involvement.) Flag for moderator attention only to convey more information than “delete these comments”, e.g. to say “this guy is making a habit of spammy comments: <link1> <link2> <link3>”. The mod screen UI makes validating a comment flag a single click, it's easier than reading a custom flag, expanding the comments, locating the right ones, deleting them and validating the flag.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Mar 4, 2014 at 13:18
  • Thought as much, just wanted to be sure. Thanks for your time.
    – John H
    Mar 4, 2014 at 13:19

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