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4

How does flagging someone as new count as "dropping a blanket accusation"? The flag presents information, it doesn't accuse anyone of anything.
– Bryan Oakley
Commented Aug 22, 2018 at 14:56
19

@BryanOakley Because without making the assumption that a majority of SO users are behaving improperly, it doesn't make any sense to show it to everyone. I explicitly said that the accusation is implicit.
– jpmc26
Commented Aug 22, 2018 at 14:57
3

I don't necessarily agree it makes the assumption that a majority of users are behaving improperly, but I do think that there are a large number of people on this site who behave improperly. If that wasn't the case, SO wouldn't be gaining a reputation of being hostile to new users.
– Bryan Oakley
Commented Aug 22, 2018 at 14:58
28

@BryanOakley Any community that moderates its content is going to have a reputation of being hostile among people who don't meet the quality standard. (And the steady stream of garbage posts is plenty of evidence that there is a large group of people falling in that category.) Such a reputation is meaningless for determining causes and a course of action forward.
– jpmc26
Commented Aug 22, 2018 at 14:59
@Mari-LouA ? Looks like maybe was supposed to be on another answer?
– jpmc26
Commented Aug 31, 2018 at 18:12
I don't know what you mean by that. The edit and its explanation are both correct but it's super trivial, and superficial. It didn't substantially improve anything.
– Mari-Lou A Слава Україні
Commented Aug 31, 2018 at 18:16
1

@Mari-LouA Oh. Thought you were replying to a comment. I didn't even see the edit comment. =) I don't mind minor corrections of my typos; in fact, I appreciate them. Not completely sure about your thoughts on the message, though; maybe you're right.
– jpmc26
Commented Aug 31, 2018 at 18:24
3

@Mari-LouA Peter is a top editor across the network and when he does something this is usually for a good reason. I think in this case polishing the minor typo looked worthy to him because it's one of the top voted answers in the announcement advertised via featured tag to whole SE network (as of now it has over 11K views). Worth mentioning that this post will attract attention even after advertising is over because it is the primary source of knowledge for a new, highly visible and quite controversial site feature
– gnat
Commented Sep 1, 2018 at 20:39
@gnat removing an apostrophe is a trivial edit. And was explaining the difference in meaning between "it's" and "its" absolutely necessary? But, let's leave it at that. I really wanted Peter Mortensen to think twice before fixing a post because there's a missing comma.
– Mari-Lou A Слава Україні
Commented Sep 1, 2018 at 20:45
1

@Mari-LouA in my previous comment I explained why I think in this case even trivial edits are okay. As for explanation (in the edit-summary which is intended for stuff like that), I don't understand why you seem to insist that it must be absolutely necessary. I find it useful both for post authors and for future editors, and since it isn't visible to readers there are no negative effects at all and that suffices to me
– gnat
Commented Sep 1, 2018 at 20:51
3

@Mari-LouA I actually disagree with you on performing the edit. I typo quite often, and it annoys me when I come back 5 months later and see it. xD So I do appreciate fixes to grammar and mechanics, no matter how small. I've definitely argued in the past that "minor" edits should be encouraged (though the site probably needs to be adjusted to not bump the posts). I can see how the edit comment comes off as condescending, though. If I'd just seen it on my own without it being pointed out first, I might have taken it rather poorly.
– jpmc26
Commented Sep 1, 2018 at 22:46

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