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After asking a few questions on Stack Overflow, I completely lost my ability to answer to comments on my questions yesterday. The only thing I can do is post more questions.

I am fairly new, and I asked a question on Stack Overflow, but was told that I should ask here.

I read the FAQ but it doesn't help me. I also don't think I broke any rules, so I don't get it. In a comment on my previous post, someone mentioned "karma". What is karma? Is it reputation? He says I need more than 100 karma to answer comments, but the truth is that I was able to answer comments when I had less than 100 reputation points (assuming karma == stack rep points) and now suddenly I cannot.


As an additional question, I have realized that some of my questions are being closed and downvoted by people that don't even take the time to read them. They just read the title and assumed that I am a jerk (I don't think my titles are offensive by any means, but then again I am not a master in expressing my ideas as you can probably see by this wall of text).

What can I do to stop them? I have the feeling there will always be someone that doesn't like me, and if that person has more power, I will always be harmed by it, even if I did nothing wrong.

Last but not least, I always start my posts as polite as possible by typing "Hello gentleman" or something similar, but Stack Overflow always removes that. Why am I not allowed to be polite?

share|improve this question
You are able to place comments on your own questions right away. However, you are not able to place comments on other peoples questions/answers until you reach 50 reputation on stackoverflow. As a note, you can post comments right away on meta no matter whose question/answer. –  Josh Mein Mar 15 '13 at 13:52
If you want 100 reputation all you need to do is gain one upvote or successfully edit 3 posts. You haven't been punished and you shouldn't have much trouble getting there. –  ben is uǝq backwards Mar 15 '13 at 13:53
Additinally, how do you know if people are taking the time to read your question? They may just genuinely think it is a bad question. –  Josh Mein Mar 15 '13 at 13:53
@benisuǝqbackwards What does he need the 100 rep for? It isnt necessary for leaving comments. –  Josh Mein Mar 15 '13 at 13:54
Guys, this post is a little misinformed but not particularly antagonistic; can we please avoid downvoting him into oblivion? –  Jeremy Banks Mar 15 '13 at 13:56
@Flame_Phoenix: It is very likely that the title of your question is the cause. The title asks why there is no interface in C++ like Java, which may not be answerable, since it is part of the language design. (Some features in the language can be explained, but there are things that cannot be adequately explained) –  nhahtdh Mar 15 '13 at 14:01
Please don't close this as a dupe. The other one was asked on SO and migrated here, and is being closed as a dupe of this one. –  Pops Mar 15 '13 at 14:02
With regards to your greetings being removed, see this question: Should 'Hi', 'thanks,' taglines, and salutations be removed from posts? –  Bart Mar 15 '13 at 14:03
@Flame_Phoenix: it seems you did not take the time to read and consider the linked-to question before posting a comment about its content. Oh, the irony. –  Joachim Sauer Mar 15 '13 at 14:12
@Flame_Phoenix It's 'noise' that makes searching more difficult. Also; you came here looking for advice, presumably. Please consider having a more open mind and considering the advice you are being given. –  Andrew Barber Mar 15 '13 at 14:13
It isn't a forum though. Stack Overflow is a question and answer site for professional and enthusiast programmers :) –  Ren Mar 15 '13 at 14:20
@Flame_Phoenix: I understand where you're coming from, but you have to keep in mind that those things that make SO "not a forum" are also those things that make SO so much more helpful than the usual forums. "removing greetings" would be very jarring in a forum, but is important here: we want content and content only. (that's also why comments are second-class citizens here and why comment-threads such as the one here are generally seen as a bad thing). –  Joachim Sauer Mar 15 '13 at 14:22
@Flame: Stack Overflow (and Stack Exchange) is different. Definitely review the about and FAQ pages to see how. –  Al E. Mar 15 '13 at 14:29
not having the same function definitions repeated all over my God damn child headers. But that is besides the point. - don't expect people to take you seriously when you write questions like that. –  Adam Rackis Mar 15 '13 at 15:51
"What can I do to stop them?" Absolutely nothing. –  Jack Maney Mar 15 '13 at 17:19

1 Answer 1

up vote 6 down vote accepted

As for your salutations, see here.

You do swear in some of your posts, and the mid paragraph in this is more like a rant than anything else. The question was validly down-voted, and validly up voted too. However, the grammar and formatting are off, and I can fully understand it's being closed.

You also only have two downvoted questions, out of 11 upvoted ones.

share|improve this answer
So, using the word "sucks" is considered offensive? I guess I was quite frustrated (and still am) when I wrote that, but I never imagined people would be so offended by it. What do I do now? I assume I cannot simply ask the same question again, or else I will be punished. As far as greetings goes, is it removed automatically? Or is it removed by users? I understand the user's point, but I don't think that typing 2 words and thanking the community for their job is going to waste your time into oblivion. I believe in moderation. I believe that my post should be polite but not too long. –  Flame_Phoenix Mar 15 '13 at 14:05
@Flame_Phoenix: While I understand that you are frustrated, there is no need for curse words in the question. It does not contribute to the subject matter. –  nhahtdh Mar 15 '13 at 14:07
@Flame_Phoenix Some greetings are removed automatically. And users are fairly active as well in doing so. See my comment to your question for a link explaining this. And you're right, don't ask the same question again. Improve your existing question. If it's closed, that might help to have it reopened. –  Bart Mar 15 '13 at 14:09
But, if it is closed, even if I improve it, people wont be able to answer it. –  Flame_Phoenix Mar 15 '13 at 14:11
There is a re-open process, similar to votes to close. Bear in mind that long after your immediate frustration and need have passed, other readers may hope to benefit from the Question you've posted (and its Answers/Comments). So in StackOverflow, as with other SE forums, decorum and factualness are important. –  hardmath Mar 15 '13 at 14:11
@Bart: I doubt people would really want to look at a -10 question after improvement, with the current system. And does an edit bring it to the front page? (I remember there being a limit on the score of the post). –  nhahtdh Mar 15 '13 at 14:13
@nhahtdh It will put it in the reopen queue as far as I'm aware. Any post of a score of -8 or lower will not appear on the front page afaik. –  Bart Mar 15 '13 at 14:17
In regards to that particular question, I just edited it to update the title to match what's being asked, and removed a few phrases that users might find offensive. Edits will bump questions to the "Active" page so they might get a bit more attention, however questions with a score of -8 (It might be -5) or lower won't show up there, so I don't think your question will show up in the Active list. It will show up in the Reopen Review Queue though since I cast a vote to reopen it. –  Rachel Mar 15 '13 at 14:18
There is no private messaging mechanism here. –  Al E. Mar 15 '13 at 14:27
@Flame_Phoenix Then again, most of us are not human. I am merely a pair of glasses for example. ;) But kidding aside, we'll just assume a user is thankful and kind. And the advantage is that you can think all kinds of mean things and we'll still assume you're nice. :p –  Bart Mar 15 '13 at 14:34
@Flame_Phoenix It's not well documented, but you can type @EditorUserName in a comment on a post someone has edited and it will send the message to their Inbox. For example, you could type @Rachel in a comment to the post I edited, and I would have received the message :) –  Rachel Mar 15 '13 at 14:48
@Rachel That's not a very private means of messaging someone. SE only has public means of messaging someone (there are several of them, but none of them are private). –  Servy Mar 15 '13 at 14:56
@Flame: The way to thank someone is to upvote their post. If an answer was the fix for your issue you accept it. Again, these sites are not like other sites you may be used to. –  Al E. Mar 15 '13 at 15:11
There's an "upvote" mechanism for comments, but all it does really is make sure the comment is seen. The kind of interaction you're looking for doesn't exist here. If it's not a question or an answer it's probably unnecessary cruft. –  Al E. Mar 15 '13 at 15:15
I wish people wouldn't assume brevity is a sign of rudeness. A concise system is neither polite nor rude, it is merely a system. Only you can assign emotions to the system (hint: this is a waste of time). –  user7116 Mar 15 '13 at 15:51

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