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When a question is posted, can we advise the poster to hang around and respond to comments?

We all know who they are. They ask a poorly worded, off-topic question, get downvoted into oblivion (which is 1, since they are a new user), and otherwise get sliced and diced with comments.

But they are not hearing you, because they have long since left, probably because they are not used to instantaneous answers from a forum, like you can get on Stack Overflow.

Consider placing a notification popup when the user posts his first question only, something to the effect of (with potentially better wording):

Thank you for posting a question on Stack Overflow. Questions often get answered quickly here. Since this is your first posted question, please consider sticking around for a few minutes to see if others have posted comments, or otherwise have concerns about your question.

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  • 13
    Thank you for posting on Stackoverflow. Your question is important to us. There are [x] other questions waiting for answers. Your expected wait time is [y] minutes.
    – user27414
    Commented Dec 10, 2009 at 21:02
  • They do not read. So what?
    – Ladybug Killer
    Commented Dec 10, 2009 at 21:04
  • I like it, but they won't read it. People already don't read the "related questions" when asking, the instructions for asking, the FAQ (which is in the banner line when you first visit unauthenticated), or anything else. Pop quiz: How many of you stopped reading after "People already don't read ... ?" :)
    – John Rudy
    Commented Dec 10, 2009 at 21:05
  • 1
    That sentence was too long. How could I be expected to read it?
    – mmyers Mod
    Commented Dec 10, 2009 at 21:07
  • 3
    How depressing this is. When I used to write manuals for CPA software the only thing I could ever get them to read were screenshots.
    – user102937
    Commented Dec 10, 2009 at 21:11
  • All I have to say is TLDR.
    – jjnguy
    Commented Dec 10, 2009 at 21:44
  • 3
    @John Rudy: we can't assume that all new users are illiterate. Many are quite happy to listen to any instructions we give them, and so giving more information will benefit at least some.
    – Ether
    Commented Dec 10, 2009 at 21:57
  • This question has been asked before: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/26548/…
    – pavium
    Commented Dec 11, 2009 at 1:05
  • 1
    @Junior Janitor: heck, i didn't even make it past "I like it, but" ...
    – quack quixote
    Commented Dec 11, 2009 at 1:35
  • 2
    @Æther: Oh, we can assume that. Because people who are happy to listen to are also reading the FAQ. They look at other questions before posting their own ones, to get a feeling how it is done here. That's not the group Robert describes. The group he describes does not read!
    – Ladybug Killer
    Commented Dec 11, 2009 at 8:30
  • Unknown(google) seems to be the main guy behind these questions
    – Chris S
    Commented Dec 11, 2009 at 11:21
  • an example stackoverflow.com/questions/1887684/how-call-net-command-promt
    – Chris S
    Commented Dec 11, 2009 at 12:25
  • Æther: I don't assume they're illiterate; I assume they simply don't bother reading it. I like the idea, and agree that a few will read it, but sadly I still think most will still choose to ignore it. :(
    – John Rudy
    Commented Dec 11, 2009 at 12:55

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