I ran across a comment in a question from a user with a low acceptance rate (25%) that might deserve flagging. The comment is along the lines of "if you accepted more answers, people would be more likely to answer you". While the comment is probably accurate, in this case, it irritated the question poster to the point of profanity. A little research shows that the commenter has answered other questions from this user, none of which were accepted. Is this comment tough love or just not helpful?
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5This specific type of comment has been discussed before on Meta: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/23321/… meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66773/… meta.stackexchange.com/questions/95452/… meta.stackexchange.com/questions/17590/…– jscsCommented Jun 20, 2011 at 5:00
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It is fine to flag accept rate comments as offensive. I've started doing so a while ago.– PekkaCommented Jun 20, 2011 at 5:07
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1Is there a polite/correct way to suggest that a user accept helpful answers? It may be that he doesn't know/remember about accepting answers (though probably not in this case), and a little nudge in that direction will be seen as helpful.– PengOneCommented Jun 20, 2011 at 5:20
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19If there's one thing we spend more time discussing than people's accept rates, it's the validity of discussing people's accept rates– Michael MrozekCommented Jun 20, 2011 at 5:35
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1 Answer
I think a link to the question might help, but in my opinion, people sometimes take the accepting rate too seriously or in a bad sense.
I heard Jon Skeet (in one of the latest podcasts) say he will put extra effort in an answer, if he sees a comment like that in a question.
I think there is a difference between reminding a user that he should accept answers and saying that his question won't be answered, even so, profanity is not welcomed and should be flagged, provoked or unprovoked.
I think the acceptance rate should be take into consideration, but should only be given as a note and not an aggression, a simple link in the comments like this [faq#howtoask] may be much more helpful that an aggressive remark.
In the end should be collaborating, civil, grown-ups.
EDIT:
I generally say something along the likes of:
Hi, please consider working on your acceptance rate, please take at the [faq#howtoask] to learn how to accept answers that have been useful to you. Thanks!
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Downvoter, could you please explain your disagreement so we could discuss further?– TrufaCommented Jun 20, 2011 at 5:09
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Did you mean 'provoked' perhaps? (You're right that 'provequed' doesn't exist, at least not in English, so far as I'm aware.) Commented Jun 20, 2011 at 5:27
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@DavidThomas: I have pathological tendency to invent words words or alternative spellings. Thanks!– TrufaCommented Jun 20, 2011 at 5:35
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