Being unresponsive is unhelpful
Sometimes questions aren’t as clear as they should be. Or, they may not contain important information needed to provide a correct answer. People who read questions like this often leave comments seeking clarification.
Why this is a problem
Without responding to these clarification requests, it is less likely that the question will be answered. By not responding to these requests, people who are willing to help are either not going to answer, or their answers will be educated guesses. If these guesses are incorrect, they’ve wasted their time, and the question remains without a valid solution.
Why this is worth a downvote
If a question is important enough to ask, it should be important enough to promptly respond to anyone commenting on it. Anything else is essentially ignoring people who are trying to help. Their time spent analyzing the question, asking for clarification, and waiting for a response is wasted. If they hazard an answer that ends up being incorrect, the time spent on that is wasted. Wasting the time of people who are trying to help is seen as rude.
What to do next
Immediately return to the question and reply to anyone who has asked for clarification. Edit the question to include any additional information that has been requested, and then @reply in the comments to let people know that their questions have been answered. And, in the future, when asking a question, keep the browser tab pinned open for at least a few hours. Check to see if comments or answers have been added every ten to fifteen minutes. Always respond immediately to comments. Doing so encourages others to continue interacting with a question, raising the chances they will provide an answer, as well as the probability that the answer is a correct solution.
Leave a comment!
Once you have read this, leave a comment to the person who sent you this link. They will be happy to retract their downvote.
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