I'm starting now to use the Stack Exchange sites and didn't find any discussion about this issue.
Imagine the hypothetical situation:
I'm trying to contribute to the Linux Kernel. I find some trouble and ask for help in Stack Overflow (or Programmers, Unix & Linux, etc).
My question is a yes/no type. Something like:
Can I make this with that function?
I'm expecting for a yes/no answer with some explanation. Then, a user named Linus Torvalds appears and post a answer
Yes
Man, He is Linus Torvalds. Certainly, this is the answer that should be marked as correct, even without any explanation, even if I have a "No" answer with a lot of explanation, right?
So, here are some questions:
- Am I right in mark the right answer based only on the famous name who answered?
- If yes, How can I know that the profile is THE Linus Torvalds and not a fake? The Stack Exchange has some "verified account" badge or something like this?
The situation presented here is overstated, but something like that could happen to any of the names on that list, so I think that may be relevant.
In short, how we can deal with famous (and possibilty of fake famous) profiles in SE sites?
UPDATE
All the scenario it's more clear to me now, after all comments and answers here.
From what I understand, the ecosystem of SE sites takes care to prevent a possible fake profile to post an incorrect answer that will screw it up. So, if the profile is real or not, simply does not matter.
Just some observations:
- I know that everybody could make mistakes, but you must agree that it's complicated to say to a "genius" that he is wrong (assuming the profile of the "famous" guy is real and assuming that the answer is wrong);
- Sometimes, we can test the answers to decide which is correct, but sometimes we deal with some theoretical things that depends largely on personal knowledge. Think about a question in Theoretical Computer Science SE that was answered by a book writer in the same theme and things like that. I agree that can't be decisive, but I believe that personal profile should be taken in account sometimes. (In this case the advice of @Mr.Bultitude it's a good approach, though laborious)
Am I right in mark the right answer based only on the famous name who answered?
No.