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Yesterday, I went through and flagged twenty or so comments that I deemed "obsolete"; all of these comments were essentially of the form "Please edit this" / "edited thanks". For example:

All of these flags were declined. If these comments do not constitute "obsolete" comments, what do?

As far as I know, this type of comment thread ("pls edit" / "done") is basically exactly what "obsolete" flags exist for. The help center page on flagging says more or less the same thing (emphasis added):

obsolete — a comment that is no longer relevant because it has been addressed by an edit to the post, clarified by additional comments, or contains no context because it references deleted content

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  • In programming, links to deprecated references and old tech. In anime I suppose, old news/info sources that have been proven to be fake or false for some reason. Maybe info that hasn't been definitely known at the posting time now has an explicit definition.
    – Hakase
    Commented Jun 14, 2014 at 21:06
  • Similar: meta.anime.stackexchange.com/questions/772/…
    – Logan M
    Commented Jun 16, 2014 at 23:13

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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EDIT

After consulting with other moderators, I've decided to reverse my decision and remove the comments. Sorry for all the declined flags.

Obsolete comments are comments which are no longer useful in any way. Like user1306322 explained in his comment, in programming that's links to old tech which is no longer relevant.

The "Please improve" and "Improved, thanks" still hold some value in my eyes (I was the one who declined your flags). Because visitors see them and realize that improvements are possible and encouraged all over the site.

If someone were to say in a comment "Well, that's because Tobi is Madara!" even though it was revealed otherwise in both anime and manga (so it's not even spoiler anymore), that would count as obsolete. A comment or detail which is no longer relevant.

Like always, this is my take on this. Feel free to post your own opinions and argue with me.

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  • Because visitors see them and realize that improvements are possible and encouraged all over the site. - I mean, I guess that's true, but I disagree that that's reason enough to keep the comments around. People will use comments for this purpose anyway. See also my edit to the question.
    – senshin
    Commented Jun 16, 2014 at 3:25
  • 2
    Uh, what? “edited, thanks” is the archetypal obsolete comment. As is “please edit” if the edit has been performed according to the comment. The revision history of a post belongs in its revision history, not in comments. Comments are for issues in a post that have not been handled yet.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Commented Jun 16, 2014 at 11:52
  • @MadaraUchiha No problem, just wanted to get this clarified.
    – senshin
    Commented Jun 16, 2014 at 16:54

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