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How do I make a comment? Well, this is easy, a user must have at least 50 reputation points, and comments are a privilege... wait, why is it?

How to make a remark when reputation is under 50 ? One simple would not, as "There's a reason that the software has a built-in check for minimum reputation before allowing one to post comments, and it is not nice to try to circumvent that."

It annoys me the fact that not everyone is suitable for delivering comments (although all users are suitable for asking questions). If someone is able to ask a good question, are they not able to offer good comments?

Why are new users being prevented to comment? Why is it a privilege?

A revision might solve this problem of Answers of the form "I don't have enough reputation to comment, but"

Are there any possibility to review this "built-in check for minimum reputation before allowing one to post comments", or is it a task that does not improve MSE?

Edit: After browsing some duplicates of this question in other related websites I found that Joel Coehoorn answer is reasonable.

Why does Stack Overflow prevent new users from commenting?

I still think that these opinions are not based in experiments nor personal anecdotes, though.

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  • $\begingroup$ Yes, it is. Thank you. Ye can close this one now. $\endgroup$
    – CvZ
    Sep 9, 2015 at 3:27
  • $\begingroup$ BTW congrats to your recently obtained privilege to comment everywhere. I would also like to say that I really appreciate that you searched for older related posts before asking. (At least this seems to be the case based on the number of links to various discussions relevant to this issue I see in your post.) $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Sep 9, 2015 at 6:32
  • $\begingroup$ Although I failed to find THE one. $\endgroup$
    – CvZ
    Sep 9, 2015 at 6:34
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    $\begingroup$ I answer in one word: spam. $\endgroup$
    – MJD
    Sep 9, 2015 at 10:35

1 Answer 1

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If someone is able to ask a good question, are they not able to offer good comments?

Probably yes. But, we don't know if a new user is able to ask good questions, post good answers, or add good comments. We don't know anything about them.

Sure, one has to start somewhere. And it makes sense to have new users begin their participation with questions and answers, because they are more visible, are automatically reviewed, and can be moderated by the community in various ways.

If those turn out to be good, then other privileges, such as commenting, are unlocked.

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  • $\begingroup$ It is true, it does make sense to allow new users to participate in questions and answers. Although one might suggest that comments are an important part in the participation of new users. $\endgroup$
    – CvZ
    Sep 9, 2015 at 1:49
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    $\begingroup$ +1 Exactly right about visibility: posting a comment does not bump a thread up to the main page where it will be noticed by the community. A malicious user could post whatever terrible things they want in the comments of an abandoned thread (e.g., a question asked by a user who has since been deleted) without it coming to anyone's attention unless it's come across by chance. Questions and answers are more substantive contributions to the community, and forcing people to demonstrate a basic level of competence and good intention before they can make comments is extremely sensible. $\endgroup$
    – Zev Chonoles
    Sep 9, 2015 at 2:08

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