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Sometimes I flag comments which really don't add anything useful to the post, like "Next time backup your data!" because altough the suggestion given might be valid, they usually do nothing to help the user solving its problem. But now I fear that this might penalize the poster too much.

How does exactly the "not constructive" flag on comments affect posters?

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  • I disagree , I believe the advice to back up valuable data is ALWAYS useful. It is not a matter of if hardware will fail, but when, and often the OP is in trouble simply due to the lack of backup. - speaking of which - off to back up my server =)
    – Panther
    Commented Apr 4, 2015 at 1:51
  • @bodhi.zazen I never disagreed on the fact that it's useful to advice an user who is not aware of the fact that he COULD back up his data, so I kind of agree with your comment. But still, pratically speaking I belive that in 99% of the cases the problem it's not that the user is not aware that he can backup his files (is this really something that should be explicitly stated by the way?), but the fact that the user doesn't really care about it. So again, I kind of agree with your comment, but in 99% of the cases that's not useful, and in 100% of the cases that doesn't help to solve the probelm
    – kos
    Commented Apr 4, 2015 at 3:28
  • @bodhi.zazen And by the way whether I decide or not to flag them it's ALL about the fact that they don't help to solve the problem, because generally speaking I certainly wouldn't mind NOT flagging such advices. My concern is more related to how the system is designed to be, i.e. just "Ask questions and give answers". On the fact itself that remarking such thing is useful, I totally agree with you.
    – kos
    Commented Apr 4, 2015 at 3:57
  • sometimes the problem has no solution, such as a failed hard drive. Failed upgrades also are difficult to fix. Or case where a users deletes a file. I guess this is why you see these things posted as comments rather then answers.
    – Panther
    Commented Apr 4, 2015 at 13:17

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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None. None at all. The only flags that have an immediate and automatic affect on the post are spam and offensive flags and they only have consequences on posts, not on comments.

So feel free to flag away :)

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    Nice to hear. I'm unleashed now then!
    – kos
    Commented Apr 4, 2015 at 3:31

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