6
\$\begingroup\$

I asked a question and, thankfully, I got more than one good answer. Essentially, both are correct, but I consider one of them is more universal, precise or interesting. According to this meta question, I accepted it, upvoing the other.

Considering that the reasons for choosing one are reasonably brief and objetive, it is a good idea to explain that reasons?

If yes, where is the best place to do that?

\$\endgroup\$
7
\$\begingroup\$

Yes

Giving feedback for what you found useful is a generally good idea. This includes when multiple good answers appear on the same question.

However

This site doesn't provide good ways to do that beyond accepting an answer. nitsua60 mentions in another comment that as a Mod, they wouldn't immediately delete comments used for such, but also supports the paradigm that such comments eventually do get purged. If Mods generally hold to this laid-back approach, your comment should be seen by the intended recipient before it gets deleted.

\$\endgroup\$
1
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ Perhaps, those ephemeral things can be, at times, the most meaningful, so (if you dont' mind) I will keep this slightly more hopeful answer. \$\endgroup\$
    – Abby
    Jun 6 '17 at 17:56
7
\$\begingroup\$

You don't need to explain why you accepted the answer you did. It is understood that the accepted answer is simply the one the querent found most helpful.

If you want to explain why you made the choice you did, though, you can do so in a comment. However, be aware that the comment will eventually be deleted. In the long run, you will have an answer in which it was no different, had you not explained your choice to begin with.

\$\endgroup\$
2
  • 6
    \$\begingroup\$ This mod will note that a comment explaining what made an answer particularly useful to the querent isn't the sort I'd be hyper-vigilant about deleting. If someone flagged it, maybe, or if it were part of a longer chain... but a one-off like that seems (to me) to be informative for future readers/users. \$\endgroup\$
    – nitsua60 Mod
    Jun 6 '17 at 14:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ @nitsua60 While I cannot say if my own comments explaining my reasons for accepting an answer have been flagged for deletion, my experience with this is such that they somehow get deleted anyway. Perhaps it was vigilant moderation, or perhaps someone flagged them. \$\endgroup\$
    – user27327
    Jun 6 '17 at 14:41
1
\$\begingroup\$

I wouldn't say it's a “good idea” to leave feedback, as that implies it's recommended or a best-practice course of action, and I wouldn't wish to imply that. Rather, it's something you could do, if/when you feel comfortable doing so and wish to do so. You should not feel pressured or obliged to leave any feedback along these lines. It may be beneficial, but it's up to you.

Voting and accepting answers are both deeply personal actions. You don't owe an explanation to anyone about either.‡ The Accepted checkmark is for the answer which best solved your problem, and you may use that in a way which doesn't correlate to how people are voting. Note that not even diamond moderators have a way of controlling the checkmark — we can't un-accept an answer or force another answer to be the accepted one.

If someone gets upset you didn't accept their answer and demands feedback or explanation, you don't have to give it to them — you can ignore that, and you can also flag their messages for moderator attention and we'll come in and clean things up.

‡ except under extreme circumstances where one's actions seem to be abusive or conducted in bad faith, at which point the user's actions may receive some due scrutiny. These are extremely rare and basically unheard of on this site.

\$\endgroup\$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .