Comments in the answer section from new users

Question

This addresses all the new users out there:

Every day here I see new users commenting in the answer section and saying things like

I don't have the rep to comment but....

It seems redundant that this should even have to be brought up but these user KNOW they should not do this, hence the disclaimers in there posts, but do it anyway and when offered an explanation of why they should not do this, there response is often hostile.

I get it, you want to help but all you are doing is creating work for other users who must review the post and the mods who must remove them, with the end result of the post getting removed anyway.

All you need to comment is 50 rep, try to earn it. A couple of well written questions will get you the rep you need or 25 good edits.

There are reasons this limitation exists on new users and we were all there once, here are some posts explaining why the limitation exists

Why do I need 50 reputation to comment? What can I do instead?

Why are you only allowed to comment with 50 rep?

All I wish to achieve with this post is that a few users will think before they comment in the answer section. I know some of you will think this matter is trivial but I think as you spend time here you will begin to understand.

If you think new users should be able to comment, please give your reasons or if you have a suggestion to help new users get information across, please do leave an answer.

Here are some posts to help you find ways to earn that first 50 rep

https://askubuntu.com/help/whats-reputation

How can I increase my reputation on Ask Ubuntu?

Six simple tips to get reputation fast on any Stack Exchange site

Answer 1

Another solution - If you see an new user with a good question, upvote it. We, the community, can solve the problem very easily, no need to force users to read FAQ or change the way the site works, we just need to be kinder to new users with our upvotes.

Answer 2

Problem

I think there's a deeper problem here. Getting reputation by asking great questions can be difficult for current new users because lots of the common questions have been answered years ago. That leaves esoteric questions for newcomers that get little attention and fewer chances for upvotes. The same applies to answers; they tend to require deep knowledge that doesn't exist yet for many new users. That leaves the temptation to be the first to submit (low-quality) answers to "beat" the experts, which isn't good for anybody.

As an anecdotal example, I find nearly 100% of my questions already have answers, and both the questions and answers have 100s of rep. This speaks volumes to the efficacy of askubuntu.com and friends, but leaves me with asking really specific questions that only gain a few rep even though I spend a lot of time trying to ask the best quality question I can manage.

In the end, it seems like only making many good edits will push the newcomer past the 50 reputation needed just to post a comment asking for useful info to help solve a particular question.

And to make matters worse, even if a user gains the ability to comment, switching to another *exchange.com-like site requires starting over from scratch unless they have over 200 reputation to begin with.

Possible solution?

The rationale behind requiring 50 rep before commenting does have its merits, but the difficulty in gaining that initial rep should be acknowledged. Perhaps allowing a specific area for asking the OP for more information directly could be a compromise. Instead of only comments, there could also be a (initially hidden) "more info" tab where users with, say, 10 rep could ask for more info to aid in troubleshooting. That would allow for better answers, which in turn would help newcomers gain rep.

Answer 3

You are new here, would like to comment but you don't have the privilege? If it is not on your question, it's probably not that urgent. So be patient, star the question to find it later, follow my way to earn your first hundred points and you will have the chance to properly comment soon.

Ubuntu is just one of the topics here, there are many others. You already know something about some of the topics, don't you? Pick some you are interested and/or proficient in, read their introductory [tour] to learn the basics and then just lurk around and answer wherever you can help. Odds are good that you will get 200 rep in few days, which will give you 100 point in any other site, including AskUbuntu. This will enable to chat, ask/answer in meta, upvote and... comment!

Then it's the time for the delayed comment to celebrate your reputation gain.

Final pro-tip: some sites are easier to get reputation than others. Hobby-related topics are easier to get into and new sites (no special icon, just the default blue one) means more time to answer before someone else does and more good questions waiting for you to ask. Also, watch top questions in the right pane - sites whose question appear there often are the ones where users tend to upvote a lot.