-9

So this answer: https://stackoverflow.com/a/4124064/2642059 is just wrong. But it has been accepted. Can anything be done here?

I don't have any grounds to request it be deleted... maybe because it really should have been a comment... but really it's just wrong. Could I somehow request that it at least be moved to the bottom of the answers, that way at least a user would have to search for the (wrong) accepted answer.

Perhaps that could be a feature that negative score answers appear at the bottom of the answers?

As pointed out by TylerH: The correct thing to be done by a member with 20+k reputation would be vote to delete. Is there anything that someone under 20+k can do?

15
  • 2
    It's downvoted enough to accept delete votes.
    – Kevin B
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:35
  • 2
    @Servy I'm not sure; that one is about how to fix when OP doesn't know they can change the accepted answer. In this case, Jonathan doesn't seem to be trying to get OP to change the accepted answer but rather just delete this wrong answer that happens to be accepted.
    – TylerH
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:37
  • 5
    One of the principles of moderation is that we don't moderate "technical disputes." That is, we aren't in the business of evaluating answers for accuracy. That is why upvotes and downvotes exist. That said, the answer is eligible for deletion; if you have the necessary rep, cast a delete vote. Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:38
  • 1
    @TylerH It covers what to do when the OP accepts an answer that you think is wrong. One answer says you can tell the OP that the answer is wrong and that they should consider changing it. That's of course an entirely valid response to this situation. The other answer provides different advice, also appropriate for this exact situation that both questions are asking about.
    – Servy
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:39
  • @Servy For what it's worth I did message the OP as well but he hasn't been seen since this Spring so I don't think he's active enough to help in this case. Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:43
  • 2
    @Servy Well, a couple things: first, the situation here is not the same as the one in your dupe link. In the dupe link, OP accepted an answer that was wrong, and then posted their own answer without changing the accept mark. In this case, OP has not posted their own answer, so it's not the same. As far as we know, OP still to this day thinks the accepted answer is correct and solves their problem. It's not for us to say otherwise. The target is about moving the accepted check to the correct answer. This is simply about removing the accepted check from the wrong. Two clearly different cases
    – TylerH
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:44
  • 9
    Aaaand... Problem solved (3 delete votes cast by community members). On with the show. Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:45
  • @TylerH And yet the response to the OP accepting an incorrect answer isn't actually changed as a result of the OP posting their own answer. The appropriate courses of action are all still identical. Since the answers are no different between the two questions as the only differences are immaterial to the answer, the questions are duplicates.
    – Servy
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:45
  • @RobertHarvey Yeah, I stand corrected. I only just came into my 20k so I now can, and did, vote to delete... Perhaps I should be asking then what should an under-20k'er do about this. Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:48
  • 1
    Post here and let the community handle it I guess @Jonathan
    – Clive
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:49
  • 1
    @Servy It's clear from your comments that you haven't actually read the responses, since the response given here is different from the responses given in your suggested dupe. OP there cannot possibly follow the response here as--wait for it--the cases are different. Try again when OP of your dupe target has 20k rep.
    – TylerH
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:51
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    @JonathanMee In the specific case of asking what under-20k-users should do, that question *is* a duplicate of the one Servy linked.
    – TylerH
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:52
  • 2
    @TylerH You seem to think that every single time different people ask the exact same question they should all have the answers duplicated each time rather than simply having the answers all covered in a single canonical version of the question and having the duplicates closed as a duplicate of it. I have no idea why you think that though. If you think that the canonical is missing a possible course of action for the situation described, feel free to post an answer covering it. That's not a reason to not close the question as a duplicate.
    – Servy
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:54
  • 1
    @Servy That's not a canonical question nor is it tagged as FAQ or suggested FAQ. If you want to treat it as such then please make some edits to it, but don't expect others to rely on your headcanon when it differs from reality.
    – TylerH
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 17:25
  • 3
    @TylerH Every question is designed to be the canonical version of the question it's asking. That's the whole design of the platform. A question doesn't need to be tagged FAQ to be a canonical question. If you think an existing version of the question could be improved, then improve it. Don't duplicate it.
    – Servy
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 17:59

1 Answer 1

4

Unfortunately this is just the intended design of the "accepted answer" function -- the asker specifically labeled this answer as the one that solved their problem/answered their question best, so it gets pinned to the top. The only case where accepted answers don't get pinned is when the asker posts a self-answer and marks it as accepted.

As for recourse, you can downvote low-quality/incorrect answers. Likewise I think negative-scored answers of -2 or more (even accepted ones) can be delete-voted by 20k reputation users, so you do have recourse to get this post deleted, since you have more than 20,000 reputation.

3
  • Wow, thanks. First time I've used my Delete Hammer vote. *I feel so proud* Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:45
  • 1
    nb - the "hammer" moniker is typically applied to unilateral powers like a gold tag badge voting to close as a duplicate, or a moderator voting to delete/close content. But congratulations on your first use of a very important site curation tool!
    – TylerH
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:48
  • 1
    I've ah... moved the goalposts on you a little... cause I didn't know that I had the delete privilege. Just wanted to give the heads up that I asked what a person with less than 20k should do. Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 16:52

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