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9

Note that "new user" here isn't just creating a new account, as you imply – it is defined as one week after the first post in a particular community (per the OP) .
– Nathaniel is protesting
Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 17:24
14

@Nathaniel first "visible" post... which does make me wonder what happens if the user asks a question, self-deletes it as they've already solved it or didn't want to post it in the first place, then comes back 3 months later to ask a genuine question - are they still considered as new?
– Jon Clements
Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 17:27
26

@Shog9 I said that it correlates well enough with "new" to be a good enough approximation. The cases where it doesn't are rare enough that you don't need this feature to be able to tell who's new. So yes, it's possible for some people to have a ton of deleted content, and ask a new question, and look new when they're not, and thanks to this feature in those rare cases someone could tell that they're not new when they couldn't before. I don't think that's really that important. If you think it's a more common case, we'd need info not in SEDE, which only SE itself could provide.
– Servy
Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 19:36
23

@Shog9 I suppose the other thing to consider is what's the problem with your average user considering a small handful of users with some previous deleted bad questions to be new users, and as a result, spending a bit more time explaining how their content could be improved or how the site works, rather than seeing that they're experienced and moving on. If they've had a few bad contributions they clearly don't know how to act appropriately, so it's no bad that they're told how to act appropriately.
– Servy
Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 19:45
5

You could argue that the contributor is wasting their time as the user is less likely to be improvable, but if they have so many bad contributions that we don't even think it's worth helping them they'd be question banned, so it would only be users with a small number of bad contributions that look new when they aren't, when using rep over this method. I think it's perfectly fine to treat such a user as a new user; it shouldn't hurt anything.
– Servy
Commented Aug 17, 2018 at 19:45
3

I have 14 rep on SO that isn't the association bonus, and I've been there for 3 years. Your point is invalid.
– user390407
Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 15:10
15

@Steve I assume you're post banned, given that you have a dozen (at least) poorly received questions. So it's irrelevant how you appear to people when asking a question because you can't ask questions. Also I never said that literally every single low rep user is a new user, I said that the two correlate well enough for practical purposes, and that the few exceptional cases aren't a problem. For example, if someone comments on one of your questions with advice on how to ask a good question, assuming you're new, I don't think that's that bad, as you clearly need said advice.
– Servy
Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 15:13
5

@Steve It's been 6 months since you last asked a question. You're almost certainly post banned.
– Servy
Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 15:20
10

And what about the chronic recycled account: create an account, use for one day; next day: create a second account to re-ask a closed question from the day before, and two more homework questions; next day, create a third account... ... for weeks on end. This happens on MSE. Why should we be using a banner to perpetually rewelcome a serial-account-creator?
– amWhy
Commented Aug 21, 2018 at 23:11
12

And let's not forget the effect on experienced, frequently contributing users. This entire welcoming push has been extremely intimidating and put a lot of people on edge to begin with. Now it's being rubbed in their faces even more. So it makes everyone more nervous.
– jpmc26
Commented Aug 22, 2018 at 23:19
9

I upvoted this back in the beginning, but now I'm commenting because apparently that upvote didn't speak loud enough that I agree with this, since it went live anyway. Maybe I should register a new account and comment on it, since that hand makes me LOUDER!
– Raystafarian
Commented Aug 23, 2018 at 22:57
4

@jpmc26: "This entire welcoming push has been extremely intimidating... So it makes everyone more nervous" - not everyone. I think it's great, and don't feel nervous at all. If anything, I feel more energized to try a little harder to welcome new users.
– Bryan Oakley
Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 19:46
4

@BryanOakley That's pretty callous to the feelings of your peers. Do you care about making sure people who have been here for years feel welcome? Because an awful lot of us don't anymore. Why are new users more important than them? If you do, what's your solution to making sure they do feel welcome? The point is that a lot of conflict has erupted over this; the overall net effect has been a pretty big increase in frustration and worry.
– jpmc26
Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 21:26
3

@jpmc26: " I find it insulting that you assume we're some kind of isolated minority that should just be ignored." - I do not assume that. Why are you being so hostile and negative? I absolutely do not believe you should be ignored. Just because I disagree with you does not mean I disrespect you. Neither do I think you should ignore people like me who think this is a great idea.
– Bryan Oakley
Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 22:12
6

@BryanOakley I'm hostile because you replied to what was clearly hyperbole with an argument about not everyone is more nervous because you're an exception, and that indicates that you don't take what I'm saying seriously. I even went on to elaborate that the point I was making was about a net increase site wide in negative emotion, which you then went on to dismiss as well in spite of evidence that the concerns have at least some fairly wide appeal. That you tried to sugar coat it didn't make this a more pleasant conversation; it just made it feel fake.
– jpmc26
Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 22:31

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