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Imagine I look at a question and have a remark about someone's answer, or just want some clarification about it. I naturally want to leave a comment. But being under reputation 50, I can't.

Plus, that kind of remark does not belong to the frame of answers. (Especially if you're not sure about what you're saying and want confirmation.)

Is there any way to make that kind of participation being under 50 in reputation ?

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    $\begingroup$ Apart from trying to get more reputation through asking, answering, or editing, you can't post a comment. There are people whose "answers" are turned into comments by the mods, but I do not recommend this route. However, if the post you wish to comment on is an answer to your question, then you can comment even if you don't have 50 rep. $\endgroup$
    – J. M. ain't a mathematician
    Apr 25, 2013 at 12:51
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    $\begingroup$ Ok, thank you. I think it's a pitty, beginners are more inclined to post remarks than complete answers, notably about subject they do not master. (Well, it's true that 50 is not that hard to gain.) $\endgroup$
    – Pece
    Apr 25, 2013 at 13:21
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    $\begingroup$ Just think what the Batman question thread would look like, if all those visitors from reddit had commented on it. $\endgroup$
    – Jyrki Lahtonen
    Apr 28, 2013 at 17:10
  • $\begingroup$ Draft of a comment: meta.math.stackexchange.com/questions/9203/…. Tried out @Thisismuchhealthier's trick, and it works! $\endgroup$
    – user122283
    Jul 3, 2014 at 22:19
  • $\begingroup$ @Thisismuchhealthier. Yes, but it said "Trivial answer converted to comment", showing the validity of your (sneaky and clever) method. $\endgroup$
    – user122283
    Jul 3, 2014 at 22:23
  • $\begingroup$ @Thisismuchhealthier. Yeah - precisely! Then, I redid it and it was sucesseful. $\endgroup$
    – user122283
    Jul 4, 2014 at 0:31

1 Answer 1

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The answer is: don't.

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.

  • If you only have a tangential remark, ask yourself whether it really need to be posted.
  • If you only have a partial answer, or an answer which you are not 100% certain is correct: you should post it. Because
    1. This is how we earn reputation points, which will allow you to eventually comment!
    2. What's the worst that can happen? Maybe you are wrong and someone points it out to you and downvotes your answer. You are allowed to delete the answer, which will refund the reputation loss and also possibly earn you a badge.

We already have an overabundance of answers hiding in comments. If you have something pertinent to the question, you should not be afraid to post it as an answer. (On the other hand, if what you want to say is only tangentially related, see first bullet point above.)

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