4

I went through this a while back and I just want to know if this is fair to anyone.

I posted an answer before others with sufficient information but then someone else posted an answer and commented on my answer telling the OP to take a look at his answer instead for more details. I honestly didn't care, but I felt like my answer contained sufficient information to get the OP on the right track. If someone's answer is not wrong and answers the question, I think it is unfair to comment on someone else's answer telling them to go look at their answer instead. If your answer is good enough, it should get attention on its own.

I can post the link to the exact question but I don't want to put anyone on the spot.

0

1 Answer 1

5

I agree that doing this isn't a nice move. I doubt it will have much of an effect, though. I figure the OP will receive a notification about the new answer anyway, will read it, and then evaluate it compared to the previous answers. I can't see a comment on the older answers making much of a difference. So in that sense, I don't think it's a big deal.

If anything, to me it makes the people leaving these comments look insecure and weak. If they were confident in their answer, there would be no need to leave these comments. In your shoes, I would simply ignore the comments.

I sometimes leave comments on other answers around the same time I post an answer, but only if I see clear weaknesses or mistakes in the proposed approach that the OP might not recognize. I guess that could be interpreted as trying to point the OP in the direction of my answer. But I think pointing out legitimate problems in answers is fair game, no matter if I also have an answer to the same question or not.

Often times, if I see issues in an earlier answer that are relatively minor and can easily be fixed, or if I have ideas on how an already good answer can be extended/improved, I'll only leave a comment, and will not post an answer myself.

1
  • Thank you for your reply. However, I think it may have an effect on the OP. The OP of that specific question was a new user with 1 reputation asking a pretty simple question. So if he didn't know what he is doing and he had someone tell him to look at his answer INSTEAD. I think it could effect the way things look for the new user.
    – imbondbaby
    Jul 4, 2014 at 9:27

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