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I flagged two comments as obsolete yesterday because they referred to older versions of the post, and because the issues that had been pointed out were already fixed:

  • This, where someone asks for a source which was later added, although looking back on it, I imagine that the comment might still be useful for some people who might not have seen the edit yet.

  • This, where someone asks for edits for grammar/readability that were later made.

I later noticed today that both of my flags were declined. Why was this the case? I noticed this question on Meta, but I don't think it necessarily addresses my confusion, and while this question also seems useful, I have no idea if the circumstances were similar to mine.

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    Agreed, these comments should be removed.
    – Cattua
    Sep 2, 2014 at 5:09
  • Is it possible these were declined automatically because of some time limit? I don't remember whether comment flags have time limits, but I do know that all three of the mods were absent from this site for at least a few days in the past week, so flags could have potentially fallen through the cracks if they were time-limited.
    – Logan M
    Sep 2, 2014 at 6:24
  • IIRC, comments about editorial issues should be removed once the problem has been resolved, and flagging is a valid channel. At least since last year, there has been some discussion on Meta.SO (now Meta.SE) about encouraging people to flag comment for deletion if the issue in the comment has been resolved (under "obsolete" reason).
    – nhahtdh
    Sep 2, 2014 at 6:24

1 Answer 1

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I feel that it can is sometimes too easy to misjudge the relevance of a comment thread, even if the issue at hand was resolved. Often times to understand a question or answer's edit history, you need to see the comments as well. A comment can express a common misconception that then gets cleared up by the OP, but should be left as a note for future subsequent generations so they don't make the same mistake.

I feel that the way the current method of comment deletion might not be not very transparent, as I believe there isn't a way to keep track of deleted comments (for regular, non-high users), or protest their deletion.

In short, I don't think there should be a culture of deleting comments among mods, except for the generally accepted exceptions where it takes place already: When comments are rude, or a conversation gets completely derailed and off-topic.

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    I think there's a good point here, but only for in-depth edit histories. If someone asks for a source and the person adds it, I don't see that as necessary to justify the addition of a source in edit history. If, on the other hand, a provided source is deemed invalid for a specific reason, I think it makes sense to keep the comments.
    – Cattua
    Sep 3, 2014 at 17:00

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