as a relativley new user it is very frustating for me when I want to add a comment that is not possible for me because of the 50rep regulation. And when I answer a question it will be deletetd by an editor. Please give the new users the chance for adding comments.
Many thanks!
Don't be frustrated. It'll take 25 approved edits to get enough priveleges to comment. I can bet there are 100s of posts out there, with poor English and formatting that need to be edited/improved. Not just edits, even if you get 6/3 question/answer deserving upvotes on your respective post you get the priveleges to comment.
This site currently needs more users who improve and edit post, and properly vote, then they need users who can comment. We already have plenty of those who, for some reason, feel obligated (could be some other reason too) to answer a question even though they don't know the answer to it, let alone those who don't even properly read the question and understand its subtleties.
Well, that was a constructive work around to gain comment privs. But, please, also realize that comments' primary purpose is to ask for clarification and provide more information.
This feature had been requested on MSO/MSE back in the days and was declined. Having this feature won't do much, if any, good to this site, or any other site either. So we'd rather not have it.
Remember, on this site we are looking primarily for well researched Q&A, and comments are just an ephimeral part of that model.
This question is a StackExchange Frequently Asked Question and the answer is here (which I copy/paste below). It's a trade-off: a lower threshold implies more irrelevant chit-chat in comments (sometimes at the cost of missing out on useful comments).
Note: the 50 reputation doesn't apply to your own questions.
It's a StackExchange-wide threshold, so we wouldn't be able to change it for this site. Removing the threshold was proposed here and subsequently declined.
Why does this limit exist?
We realize that new users may have valuable comments, and that we may lose some of those contributions by requiring 50 reputation points to unlock the feature.
However, history and experience have shown that the downsides of allowing everyone to comment are far greater than a few useful comments lost:
There are big problems with spam. Automated filters cannot catch all of it.
Even among the real comments, most would either say "I have the same problem" or "I agree". Such comments do not add any value, and have to be manually removed.
Comments are very painful to moderate. Stack Exchange sites have a process of community moderation (voting, flagging, review queues) that works great for questions and answers, but not so much for comments. Comments cannot be downvoted or closevoted, nor searched (nor do we want that).
Comments are second class citizens on the Stack Exchange network, not designed to hold information for all eternity. They may get cleaned up at any time. Generally, truly important information should be incorporated into an answer of its own anyway.
Providing good answers will get you 50 rep points in no time. Alternatively, you can suggest edits that improve existing questions and answers. Each of those will gain you 2 reputation points.
But I want to contribute now. What should I do instead?
Can I put my comment in an answer?
No.
Asking and answering, the core actions on the Stack Exchange network of sites, are open to all users regardless of reputation.
However, this is not meant as a workaround to the comments barrier. Comments posted as an answer are subject to removal.
To make requests for clarification, or mere responses to other answers, you need to wait until you have the comment privilege.
How do I write a good answer?
If you are sure you can provide a real answer, then you are of course welcome to go ahead, but make sure it's a full, valid answer to the question. If you saw something wrong with an existing answer, do mention it and its flaws, but make sure you provide an alternative solution that can stand on its own. Do not just copy and paste your original comment into the "answer" field.
But I can't write a good answer without more information!
Answers don't have to be exhaustive or infallible, they just need to try to answer the question. It's perfectly fine to post an answer saying, for example, "I'm not sure what the cause of your problem is, but if it's X, you can solve it by doing Y. If that doesn't help, try Z and let me know what it says." Also, if further information does become available, you can edit your answer later to make it more precise. This is a good habit to get into even if you can comment!
Welcome to the community, and good luck!
