Timeline for Answers in comments are increasingly more common
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
27 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 2021 at 22:22 | answer | added | none | timeline score: 1 | |
| Feb 26, 2021 at 15:29 | answer | added | Mike Shulman | timeline score: 15 | |
| Jan 28, 2021 at 0:48 | comment | added | Joseph O'Rourke | This question prompted Yoav Kallus to CW-answer a question that was answered in the comments. | |
| Jan 23, 2021 at 11:47 | comment | added | Flounderer | I once posted an answer to a soft question about the origin of some terminology and was told that it should have been broken up into two comments and was sinful (sic). So I broke it up into two comments, but then the original poster said that it was correct and should be converted into an answer. So now I just stick to comments as it seems safer. | |
| Jan 21, 2021 at 16:43 | comment | added | Federico Poloni | @ChristianRemling At least (2) should be discouraged since community wiki answers are a better solution. | |
| Jan 21, 2021 at 16:39 | comment | added | Christian Remling | My impression is that most people answer in comments not for the reasons you gave, but rather because: (1) the question wasn't appropriate for MO in the first place; (2) they feel a trivial observation doesn't deserve the upvotes an answer might attract. | |
| Jan 21, 2021 at 1:27 | comment | added | Alec Rhea | @FedericoPoloni I initially started my answer as a comment before I tasted the irony. | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 21:53 | comment | added | Federico Poloni | I knew people would answer this question in comments... | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 20:51 | comment | added | Lucia | Sometimes I answer a question in comments when I have something immediate to say which I think might be useful but without having the time or inclination to flesh out fully. Sometimes I might also feel that the question was not sufficiently interesting, or unsuitable in some way, but still just want to say something that the questioner could use. I don't really see what's wrong with this. People should be free to contribute productively in whatever way they are comfortable with. | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 20:02 | comment | added | Harry Gindi | It's lower stakes and lower pressure. Comments can be deleted forever. | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 19:11 | comment | added | Federico Poloni | @HarryGindi And somehow this fear of being wrong does not apply to comments? | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 18:25 | comment | added | YCor | There's something else I didn't mention. Sometimes I'm really unsure whether the question will be consider on-topic, and the answer might look fairly standard. Then I'm encouraged to post the answer if the question and the comment are appreciated. (Before answering it might be kept in mind that an upvoted answer prevents the question to be deleted.) | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 18:23 | comment | added | YCor | @HarryGindi thanks! actually Martin told me the same in chat. I have 21 answers deleted by myself (total 28 but I don't wanna include some that became deleted as the question was deleted), this is 4%. | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 18:22 | comment | added | Harry Gindi | @FedericoPoloni I think most mathematicians prefer to be very careful when submitting answers. Sometimes I don't want to be pinned down to an answer I'm not absolutely sure of. If I later convince myself of correctness or fill in the details, I will post it as an answer, but only then. | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 18:20 | comment | added | Harry Gindi | @YCor You have enough reputation to list your deleted answers. The query is "deleted:1 is:answer". | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 16:12 | answer | added | Alec Rhea | timeline score: 21 | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 16:02 | comment | added | YCor | @FedericoPoloni I should add that in my own case, probably in at lease 25% of such cases it appeared that either is misread the question, or my argument was incomplete (e.g., some fact I expected to be trivial or easy for me, wasn't). So I'm happy I didn't post it. (It also occurred for a few answers, but fortunately much less than 25%— I can't list my own deleted answer so I'm not sure how many.) To me, writing carefully an answer is full part of double checking it. | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 15:38 | history | edited | Federico Poloni | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added tea link
|
| Jan 20, 2021 at 15:33 | comment | added | Federico Poloni | @YCor Another reason to postpone a full answer is when one doesn't have the time to immediately provide details This seems a perfect example of what I think is a common misconception: an answer that is short, partial, or with little details should not become a comment. It's still an answer, just a short one. The minimum character length for answers is 30 characters, so unless your remark is very short there is no reason not to post it as one. :) | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 13:18 | comment | added | YCor | I haven't myself any clue that it's increasingly more common, so I don't know if your sample is representative. As regards very recent question, it is not rare to first answer in comments: for instance if the answer is straightforward or in case of a doubt about the question, it is legitimate to first comment before posting a full answer. Another reason to postpone a full answer is when one doesn't have the time to immediately provide details. | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 10:41 | comment | added | Federico Poloni | @MartinSleziak Yes, I am speaking about on-topic questions. Added an edit to specify this. | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 10:40 | history | edited | Federico Poloni | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
clarification
|
| Jan 20, 2021 at 10:30 | comment | added | Martin Sleziak | Just to clarify, you're talking about questions which are on topic on MO? (Not something like: "This question is not suitable here, but the solution should be simple - set $f'(x)=0$ and solve for $x$.") | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 10:00 | history | became hot meta post | |||
| Jan 20, 2021 at 8:56 | history | edited | Federico Poloni | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 236 characters in body
|
| Jan 20, 2021 at 8:46 | answer | added | Harry Gindi | timeline score: 17 | |
| Jan 20, 2021 at 8:30 | history | asked | Federico Poloni | CC BY-SA 4.0 |