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Users of this site sometimes flag comments that say

Thank you

or

+1, good answer

for moderator deletion as 'too chatty.'

There are varying opinions on MSE as to when such comments should be deleted.

  • Some say they make the community more human and friendly, and are nice to keep around
  • Some say they are useful if they also offer constructive criticism or highlight something useful in the post (e.g. "+1, especially for the very useful link")
  • Some say they should be removed if there are other, more useful, comments on a post, and the thanks get in the way of the more useful comments.
  • Some say they should always be removed.

Right now, there is very little consistency on this site - a flag on a "thank you" comment might be declined by a moderator one day, then the same comment might deleted by another moderator the next day if the same user raises a flag again.

On Academia, under what conditions should "thank you" comments be deleted by moderators?

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    Just FYI, both of the linked MSE posts are relatively old, dating back to when the site was the meta for both the network and issues specific to Stack Overflow. For the purposes of this question, it's probably best to treat them as just helpful commentary, not anything authoritative, as you try to figure out what's right for your own community. (Based on the responses below, it doesn't seem like this was an actual problem; I just want to remove any confusion.)
    – Pops
    Commented Jan 8, 2015 at 20:34

2 Answers 2

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My quick thoughts:

  • I would definitely leave in comments that highlight parts of the answer, as they reinforce the message of the answer and indicate why it's important.
  • A simple "Thanks!" or "+1. Nice answer." that doesn't really contribute anything probably can go.
  • Comments should at least be left up for a day or so, unless it's clear that they've already been seen and responded to.
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    +1 for "leave up for at least a day". I would even go further and say a week, as people don't always log in regularly.
    – eykanal
    Commented Dec 28, 2014 at 21:22
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    @eykanal +1 for writing an example of a good "+1"-style comment where such comments are part of the subject under discussion.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Jan 3, 2015 at 12:13
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    And keep any comment like "Thanks, this worked" or "+1 this is what I do". Any clues about real-world success are useful to see.
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 11:28
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If it's been flagged, and there isn't a really good reason for it to stay, just delete it.

What would be a really good reason? If it's asking for clarification, and that clarification has not yet been made. Or if it's pointing out an egregious error in an answer.

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    I think your definition of "really good reason" is much too narrow. Also, I'm not sure how this answer applies to the specific kinds of comments being asked about in the question.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Jan 3, 2015 at 12:11

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