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We don't like noise, especially on SO.

A user with 2k+ reputation can make small ninja-edits without bothering anyone, but for me to make a similar edit would require someone to waste time with an edit review. I'm with the majority (according to Meta) in believing noise removal is beneficial, but is it beneficial enough to warrant an edit being reviewed?

Enthusiasm for these edits seems to vary from site to site -- I've had small edits like this on Super User approved, but also edits fixing inconsistent indentation declined on Stack Overflow.

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I'm with the majority (according to Meta) in believing noise removal is beneficial

Focus on suggesting substantial improvements until you have gained your 2k rep. By doing this you are making the reviewers time investment worthwhile.

If you read the help page for the edit privilege it says:

When should I edit posts?

Any time you feel you can make the post better, and are inclined to do so. Editing is encouraged!

Some common reasons to edit are:

  • to fix grammatical or spelling mistakes
  • to clarify the meaning of a post without changing it
  • to correct minor mistakes or add addendums / updates as the post ages
  • to add related resources or hyperlinks

Tiny, trivial edits are discouraged - try to make the post significantly better when you edit, correcting all problems that you observe.

(emphasis mine)

I've had small edits like this on Super User approved

If I was reviewing that particular edit I would have have picked the improve edit option as there are still some issues with that particular post.

For example:

  • "kaspersky" should start with a capital letter
  • "to see it was no on those either." does not make sense. The "no" should have been "not"
  • There is a lot of superfluous text that could have been removed, like, for example, "It stirred me into a panic"

Note: I'm a moderator on SuperUser, but I no longer regularly perform reviews as my votes are binding and I want to let the community votes be heard.

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  • Yeah, I know there were still minor problems. I'm afraid of editing too much. There was plenty of grammar to fix, but I'd end up rewriting most of the post. I think I've had edits like that declined, too. It's harder than it sounds to make good edits.
    – Sinjai
    Feb 14, 2018 at 0:24

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