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I got this answer where the answerer says they have a friend who works on the production of a show. Based on a scene that was allegedly included in the production, the answerer hints at an answer.

If it was confirmed that such a scene was indeed a part of the production for season 2, it would certainly be an excellent answer to the question. However, it all depends on how reliable the word of the user and their friend is.

Is quoting personal insider knowledge (without a notable source) in this manner acceptable?

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  • As a contrast, you may like to look at my answer here; scifi.stackexchange.com/a/137320/20774. I've quoted without reference and since I'm not willing to share my email login details with the world, you'll have to take my word for it that the quotes are accurate.
    – Valorum
    Commented Aug 5, 2016 at 21:09
  • @Valorum Interesting to consider the difference. As you noted in your answer, the difference would be that the other guy is someone we don't know who appears to have created an account with that question in mind.
    – Fiksdal
    Commented Aug 5, 2016 at 21:18
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    Which is not to say that their answer is objectively bad, just that it's unsupported. As I keep saying, you've always got the option of doing nothing with it, up or down. You can easily reserve judgement for a later date or when the OP has posted more information on other questions. In this case, the assertion is so specific ("there will be a funeral scene involving this family in Season 2") that it's quite easily verifiable...in hindsight.
    – Valorum
    Commented Aug 6, 2016 at 0:18
  • @Valorum Yeah, I will vote after having seen season 2.
    – Fiksdal
    Commented Aug 6, 2016 at 7:29

2 Answers 2

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The very short answer is yes, it's perfectly acceptable to claim to have personal or insider knowledge, although you may wish to cast your upvotes and downvotes according to how credible you consider the poster and how useful you find their answer.

In this instance this individual has no prior rep and is using what appears to be a throwaway account to post secrets about the show. That strikes me as relatively unlikely. Then again, they may have a friend who's played a bit part or a walk-on and is desperate to share their spoiler with the world.

Personally I would hold off on voting entirely and set a reminder to check (at the end of Season 2) whether this actually happened, then upvote/downvote.

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Is it allowed?

Yes. There is no requirement that answers be backed up by verifiable sources, quotations, or anything else. Answers that are impossible to understand, do not even address the question, or have other serious issues may be deleted, but mere lack of sources is not sufficient.

Is it a good answer?

Ideally, an answer should be backed up by reliable information. If someone provides an answer without some verification of their knowledge, a reasonable person might be uncertain about their veracity. This is good enough reason for a downvote. If, on the other hand, you find the poster's presentation, knowledge, or some other factor credible, you can upvote.

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    And there's always option #3 - Don't vote at all or even option #4 - Withhold judgement.
    – Valorum
    Commented Aug 5, 2016 at 10:26
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    @Valorum - i'm consistently amazed at the seeming inability to exercise that option by a lot of SFF users. Seems to be a specific manifestation of the overall lack of ability/desire to "live and let live" approach which was one of the factors that turned me off of the site.
    – DVK-on-Ahch-To
    Commented Aug 8, 2016 at 15:50

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