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I posted a recent comment to this question:

Is there any evidence that this character survived X-Men: Apocalypse?

My comment basically referenced a quote from the wiki which didn't seem to have much evidence to support the answer. But the OP has asked to post it as an answer.

Should a comment, similar to what I have posted, be instead posted as an answer?

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    It does answer the question, although Wikipedia isn't a particularly reliable source. Go ahead and post it as an answer, but be prepared for someone else to trump it with a nice canonically sourced answer.
    – Rand al'Thor Mod
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 20:03
  • @Valorum Indeed, looks like that's a dupe if the OP's question is about whether quoting Wikipedia makes an acceptable answer. If they're asking about etiquette for commenting vs answering, then the answer would be a resounding "meh, whatever".
    – Rand al'Thor Mod
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 22:46
  • @Randal'Thor - In the absence of a response from the OP, I shall sit on my hands for the time being.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jun 13, 2016 at 22:47
  • @Randal'Thor, it's a bit of both :-)
    – user35594
    Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 19:38
  • @user35594 - In light of your acceptance of an answer that broadly replicates DVK's other answer here I'm strongly minded to close this as a dupe.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jun 16, 2016 at 8:07
  • @Valorum, yup that's fine with me.
    – user35594
    Commented Jun 16, 2016 at 19:37

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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"Should"? 100% up to you.

  1. If you don't want to post the comment as an answer (you don't feel confident of its quality, or your Seer said you shouldn't post answers on odd Thursdays, or you expect some specific user to do more thorough work and trump any effort of yours anyway - basically, ANY reason), then don't post it. It's as simple as that. 100% your call.

    • If you choose NOT to post as an answer, it may be good etiquette (not required by any means, but good manners) to explicitly state that you don't intend to convert the comment to an answer, and let someone else make it into the answer if they wish.

  2. If you DO want to post it as an answer, go ahead!

    • If you are worried about whether posting Wiki-sourced answer in general is permitted - yes it is. No prohibition on that (whether it will be well received or not is a different question).

    • If you are worried about whether posting Wiki-sourced answer in general will lead to an answer that is poorly recieved - you merely need to post it in a recommended form (e.g. see my answer here - " Primary sources vs wikis? ") to ensure that it's recieved in the best possible way.

      Now it doesn't guarantee that everyone will love it, or even that not everyone will dislike it, but in my experience clear answers that honestly say "Wiki sourced, no primary backup to Wiki" get less/no downvotes.

    • If you are worried that it's a poor quality answer (not as far as votes, but as far as how it reflects on you; in either your own opinion or of other users'), then you have two options: Either don't post (see #1); or put in extra effort trying to improve it - either before posting or after posting.

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  • Thank you, that's good enough for me.
    – user35594
    Commented Jun 14, 2016 at 19:37

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