tea.mathoverflow.net - Discussion Feed (When to answer, when to comment)

Harry Gindi comments on "When to answer, when to comment" (1019)

Harry Gindi — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:36:35 -0800

Like I said, I'll generally comment. Then again, I probably comment the most of anyone here.

Harrison Brown comments on "When to answer, when to comment" (1018)

Harrison Brown — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:40:09 -0800

I think if it's not an obviously MO-inappropriate question, and you have an answer, it's worthwhile to answer. I've asked at least one question with a trivial-in-retrospect answer, where the answer I accepted has 15 upvotes. So if you want reputation or badges (and I suspect most people would rather have extra rep than not have it, at least) you might as well answer.

My borderline case is when I want to make an observation which is obvious to me but isn't stated in the question and might not be obvious to someone else. In that situation, I'm probably close to 50/50 on comments vs. answers. Anyone have any advice on this?

Harry Gindi comments on "When to answer, when to comment" (1010)

Harry Gindi — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:59:59 -0800

I'll sometimes use comments when I don't have a full enough answer to submit but I have something helpful to say.

Ben Webster comments on "When to answer, when to comment" (1009)

Ben Webster — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:26:43 -0800

If you think the question is not appropriate for MathOverflow, I respectfully request that you flag it for moderation and don't answer it.

If you think the question is appropriate, but for whatever reason easy for you, by all means answer. Though keep in mind that what seems easy to you might not be to the asker (maybe they're from a different field), so try to give whatever background and context you have patience for in the answer; this is where coming back and editing later can be nice. Of course, keep in mind that if a question seems easy, you may have misunderstood it (I've done this a few times).

Comments are for any communication with the questioner that is not an answer: clarifications of the question, ways it could be improved.

There are some borderline cases, like an answer which is just a reference. For that, use your judgement.

Akhil Mathew comments on "When to answer, when to comment" (1007)

Akhil Mathew — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:16:51 -0800

I occasionally find myself in the situation where a question is asked that I can (or think I can) actually answer, but that usually means the answer is more or less trivial (relative to what typically goes on at MO) and/or the question is not good. So, I have the option of either a) leaving a short response or b) leaving a comment of moderate length. Answering such borderline questions quickly seems to be frowned upon by the community (e.g. by downvoting). Is the right thing to do to leave a comment?

More generally, where is the line between a comment and an answer?