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I posted a question here and got three very similar answers almost at the same time. I have got the answer to my question and found the answers helpful so I upvoted them all. But now I am confused as to which one should I accept as all are similar ? What are the community guidelines in such cases ? Thanks !

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  • $\begingroup$ Decide arbitrarily or go to random.org to decide, upvote the winner and post a comment under the other two answers that you equally like the other two answers. $\endgroup$
    – Phira
    Jan 14, 2014 at 9:09
  • $\begingroup$ Here is a similar older post: What factors should be considered to accept an answer: Time, completeness or what?. You can find some other related questions in the linked questions there. $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Jan 14, 2014 at 11:30
  • $\begingroup$ @Phira You mean "accept the winner", right? $\endgroup$
    – Daniel R
    Jan 14, 2014 at 12:26
  • $\begingroup$ I gave several solutions to this age old problem, see my comment here. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Jan 14, 2014 at 15:21
  • $\begingroup$ @DanielR Yes, I do. $\endgroup$
    – Phira
    Jan 15, 2014 at 7:06

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Here is a personal take:

I think you should always accept the best answer, but as you say, they are all the same (pretty much)

I would never accept an answer posted MUCH later than already existing answers, if they say pretty much the same stuff.

Then, consider accepting the answer from the guy with lowest reputation. This is like positive discrimination. I believe this would be a good thing for community. It encourage people who have just started participating to make further contributions.

And to be fair to the others for their time, give them an upvote each.

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    $\begingroup$ +1 for the part from the guy with lowest reputation (assume all the answers are nearly all the same and posted at around same time) $\endgroup$
    – achille hui
    Jan 14, 2014 at 15:10
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    $\begingroup$ +1 for the lowest reputation thing. $\endgroup$
    – Did
    Jan 14, 2014 at 16:09
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    $\begingroup$ Agreed with the above two. With all of the posts I see about new users being frustrated about not being able to get rep, it's nice to take a stance that shows that we appreciate the little guy's contribution too. $\endgroup$
    – Dennis Meng
    Jan 15, 2014 at 4:38
  • $\begingroup$ @achillehui Agreed. Sadly, not all people think this way: math.stackexchange.com/questions/2511009/… $\endgroup$
    – Filburt
    Nov 8, 2017 at 19:13

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