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This site was only created a few hours ago. We have merely tens of users on the site. There is still a lot of time (the rest of forever!) for people to post good answers.

In light of this, please consider refraining from accepting answers too quickly. Even though accepting an answer by no means "closes" a question or anything, people often view it as a signal that there's no point in posting another answer, thereby dissuading people from writing answers that may well be better than the answer you would've accepted.

Remember: there's no time limit on accepting answers. You can accept an answer as far down the line as you want.

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  • I have to agree that it is good practice to wait at least a day for people to get an opportunity to answer. And I usually wait a day on a mature site, let alone the first day of beta. When you accept right away the imaginary internet points motivation goes away and with it potentially good answers.
    – James
    Apr 28, 2015 at 19:15
  • But how else will I get my +2 rep?!?!?!?! (just joking, I agree with you)
    – durron597
    Apr 29, 2015 at 16:20
  • Your +2 rep? What about the +15 rep that we answerers can get?? :-)
    – Vixen Populi
    Apr 29, 2015 at 18:41
  • 1
    I agree with you, too. Accepting answers too quickly discourages contributions from other members. Good point!
    – user40
    Apr 30, 2015 at 7:26

2 Answers 2

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We are in private beta, and as such our primary focus should be on developing the site. We are limited to an audience of 100+ that have decided to participate in the private beta.

Personally I never except answers until at least a week after the site has entered public beta. When we enter public beta the audience grows A LOT, and I want to encourage the new audience to be involved. Questions without accepted answers give the new people encouragement to try for a better answer than what is posted so far.

After the initial public launch excitement has calmed down, than I go through my old questions and accept good/great answers.

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  • Except that we aren't limited to that number, everyone can join through area 51, even people who didn't sign up in the first place.
    – Arperum
    Apr 30, 2015 at 9:29
  • @Arperum in theory yes. But in reality not so much. During private beta nothing shows up in Google search results and questions do not post to the Hot Network questions. In short unless someone as specifically shown you the way, we 166 (user ID for the newest user) are all the audience there are.
    – James Jenkins
    May 1, 2015 at 10:57
-1

I do not see why an accepted answer would discourage someone from posting an answer, if they have a better one (or if the accepted answer is wrong). Also, by accepting an answer, the OP clearly states that they have no need of another answer, since that one clearly addresses the OP's questions. I believe answers should be driven by one's will to contribute and not by the +15 given when one's answer is accepted.

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  • 4
    I agree that the existence of an accepted answer shouldn't discourage people from posting additional answers, but the empirical fact of the matter is that it does (though I can't find the Meta.SE post about that at the moment; in the meanwhile: meta.stackexchange.com/q/18573).
    – senshin
    Apr 28, 2015 at 19:10
  • Yes, that's what happens and it's addressed in my second sentence. If the OP believes nothing else needs to be answered, they might as well accept an answer. That should not stop someone else from posting an answer, if and only if there's a mistake or if the question is poorly addressed.
    – codingEnthusiast
    Apr 28, 2015 at 19:12
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    I agree that "if the OP believes nothing else needs to be answered, they might as well accept an answer" in most cases, but I think it is better to avoid that on very-early-stage beta sites like this one, since it can lead to a lack of answers, which may have long-term consequences for the health of the site.
    – senshin
    Apr 28, 2015 at 19:14
  • Hmm, I guess you're right.
    – codingEnthusiast
    Apr 28, 2015 at 19:28

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