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Why was this answer deleted so quickly? The answer is apparently wrong, but why don't we give the poster enough time to acknowledge the comments and maybe fix his answer?

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The poster can always edit their answer and mod-flag it to be undeleted. Deleting it sooner rather than later actually helps out the poster - it prevents piles of downvotes from accumulating, making it much more likely that the answer will be well-received after it is fixed. Since voters have no idea when an answer is edited unless they are actively watching it, many people will downvote invalid answers and never come back to take back their downvote once the answer is fixed.

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    \$\begingroup\$ On the other hand, the person who posted that might also get mad that their post was deleted for just a small, easily fixable error, and they might not know you can flag to reopen. When you delete a post, you should explain exactly why you're doing it, and how to appeal it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Pavel
    Jan 13, 2017 at 7:43
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Pavel I agree - I also think that responsibility should go to the person who applies the last delete vote (or hammers it deleted, in the case of diamond mods). It would be confusing (and not very useful) to get a comment about how to edit your post and flag it for undeletion when there's only 1 or 2 delete votes on it. \$\endgroup\$
    – user45941
    Jan 13, 2017 at 7:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ I strongly disagree with this, additionally to what Pavel said, our policy on invalid answers explicitly states we should give at least 24 hours for them to check and update their post. \$\endgroup\$
    – Downgoat
    Jan 14, 2017 at 15:20
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Downgoat While there are merits to waiting 24 hours (it seems considerate to give the poster a day to fix it before it is deleted), in actuality what it mainly does is give drive-by voters more time to downvote it, and even if the post is fixed, the drive-by voters are very unlikely to come back and change their vote, simply because they have no way of knowing when the post is fixed other than actively stalking the post - at that point, the poster may as well make an entirely new answer with a clean slate of votes. It's actually more considerate to delete it sooner, avoiding that situation. \$\endgroup\$
    – user45941
    Jan 14, 2017 at 16:57
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    \$\begingroup\$ @Mego I noticed that in your post but you do have to note that the user is the one who should delete their post on that case, not when one thinks it'll help avoid downvotes (which additionally is incorrect (ab?)use of deleting at an extent) \$\endgroup\$
    – Downgoat
    Jan 14, 2017 at 16:59
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    \$\begingroup\$ One of the reasons I liked and stayed on this site was of how friendly and open the community was. My first answer was slightly incorrect but no one went and deleted my answer, instead a comment was left addressing the incorrect point of it. Deleting posts due to a slight problem is which is very discouraging. \$\endgroup\$
    – Downgoat
    Jan 14, 2017 at 17:02
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Downgoat Until SE implements a way for downvoters to know when posts they have downvoted have been improved, deleting invalid answers sooner rather than later is our only recourse for preventing a torrent of downvotes that likely won't be reversed even if the post author edits the post to include a constructive proof of a solution to the P vs NP problem. \$\endgroup\$
    – user45941
    Jan 14, 2017 at 17:04

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