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You can easily delete your own comments.

For several reasons I tend to be reluctant when it comes to editing other people's contributions. For example, I don't want my name "stamped" on a great answer that someone else put a lot of effort into, only because a small but nevertheless relevant typo needs to be corrected. For example, I don't feel comfortable being perceived as someone who likes to censor. Sometimes the question whether an edit is needed actually is a matter of opinion where I think that the decision should be left to the one who wrote the contribution.

So, instead of editing other people's contributions, I sometimes use comments to draw the attention of senders of answers towards typos in their answers which for the sake of clarity should be rectified. E.g., when the name of a TeX- or LaTeX-parameter is misspelled, or when inadvertently/by mistake the name of the wrong parameter or the wrong digit behind a hash denoting a macro argument was typed which a novice might not realize. Things which might cause problems/error-messages and the like, but which probably are not that obvious that a novice might realize and correct her-/himself.

Such comments are obsolete as soon as the sender of the answer/the addressee of the comment has rectified things in the answer. Therefore I'd like such comments to be markable as "deleteable by the addressee".

Sometimes I just want to bring something to the attention of the addressee of my comment whereby I think that keeping the comment on the site is obsolete as soon as the addressee took notice.

What do you think about a "mark the comment as deleteable by the addressee" feature?
Could a feature like this be misused for evil?

Did I miss that there already is a way to be automatically notified when a specific contribution is changed/edited? (You could use this to monitor whether comments you have written become obsolete due to edits in contributions. In such a case, you could then delete your now obsolete comment yourself.)

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    Fundamentally, a feature request like this would have to be implemented network-wide, which implies the request be posted on Meta Stack Exchange. The discussions below provide options for or alternatives to such an implementation. Commented Sep 30, 2024 at 17:41
  • At this stage I don't take my question for a feature request because before doing a feature request thorough and careful thought is needed about whether something like this could be misused. Given the uneasy mix of today's technical possibilities and today's zeitgeist, I am anything but certain that I don't overlook anything in this regard. Commented Oct 1, 2024 at 17:50

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That's a good point; I like your respectful way of answering and improving the contributions here.

A contributor can already flag a comment as "no longer needed", so it can be deleted; then, a moderator would check and do so if appropriate. We receive such flags frequently, not only from the contributors but also from readers who stumble across an obsolete comment. Often, such a comment answers an already deleted comment, coming from the other user who deleted their comment. Moderators will look for a reason why it's obsolete, like another deleted comment or an updated answer, and may remove the outdated comment as desired. And users don't need to worry that it may cause some tasks for moderators, as it is easy and quick.

Not sure if users who don't already use the existing flagging features may use a "deletable by the addressee" feature that also needs to be indicated by a symbol or text. I'm sure such a feature cannot be misused, but it helps keep the site tidy.

What we already can do, is using our human features, like just adding a few words to a comment like "@... gladly flag as no longer needed once you read it". Regarding editing/update notifications, we expect that the addressee responds with a comment tagging you with @ so you get the desired notification. Though then soon the other comment gets obsolete too, to be flagged, that can be done by you then. ;-)

Personally, I prefer that somebody directly corrects for example a typo in my answer instead of posting a comment pointing that out. And a friendly change information together with the edit makes the intention clear too. That change information can also contain a few words like "feel free to revert if you like".

TL;DR, the suggestions sound very good and thoughtful; I guess that feature may not be technically developed, but we can talk a bit more to achieve the same.

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    Thank you for answering my question. I am a member for eight years and five months now, but I never clicked the little flag symbol at the left of a comment. I never did that because I assumed that clicking on it would immediately result in some kind of accusation being filed with the moderators. I wasn't aware that a list would then appear where you can specify in more detail why you want a moderator to take care. Thank you for the tip. You never stop learning. I hope I still remember the tip in a few days... ;-) Commented Sep 29, 2024 at 14:18
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    I've had thoughts similar to Ulrich, that indicating "this comment can be deleted by its addressee" would be useful. I was always worried that flagging would be adding yet more work onto overworked moderators. I'm glad to hear that your workload isn't too onerous. But this could still be a useful feature network-wide, where other sites have longer moderator queues. Commented Sep 30, 2024 at 14:08
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If you want to be notified when a comment you made with a notable suggestion is implemented (updated in the answer, or even a question), you can follow the answer (or question):

enter image description here

Once you follow a post, you'll receive inbox notifications regarding its activity. This includes all new answer (in the case where you followed a question), comments, edits, and notices. You won't receive a notification for activity initiated by yourself.

Posts you are following can be viewed from your profile's activity view:

enter image description here

You can remove a followed post by clicking in on the Following button, or removing it from your following list in your profile.

Perhaps you can use this approach to comment, then follow the post. Once an edit is made you should receive a notification (or a comment posted that could answer your comment), where you can then remove your comment and unfollow the post. It's not perfect as you may also receive notification on other content changes, but it's better than nothing.

Reference: The Follow Questions and Answers feature is now live across the Network

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  • If it was possible I would have accepted both the answer of Sebastian Kottwitz and your answer. I like the approach suggested by you of following a contribution where one thinks after a change the removal of a comment of one's own might be needed. Does unfollowing a contribution affect reputation of the author of that contribution? Commented Oct 11, 2024 at 9:05
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    @UlrichDiez: Post (un)following is independent of reputation. There's also saving of posts in a list, but you don't get notified of any changes for saved posts. Commented Oct 11, 2024 at 17:41

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