Answers that add nothing

Question

Recently I'm seeing answers from new users, that don't add anything to the discussion. That is, some answers have already been posted, and the new answer says only what has been said before, without even elaborating on it like earlier posters have done. My impression is those users have not read any of the other answers before posting their own.

What should be done about such answers? My intuition has been to flag them as "low quality", but then I see those flags disputed. When I myself see such answers in the "low quality" queue, I want to recommend deletion, but among the reasons provided there's no "this answer has already been given by someone else".

What then is our stance on such answers? Do we just tolerate them and do not upvote them? Or can we perhaps add an appropriate reason to "recommend deletion" from the "low quality" review queue?

Answer 1

When we're presented with an answer marked as low-quality, we can see the original question and comments on that particular answer, but we can not see other answers.

We can click on the link in the question section to see the answers, but sometimes reading them all is a chore. Honestly, it's never occurred to me that I need to read other answers in order to determine if a given answer is appropriate. I feel I only need to read the question.

Nor do I think anything is wrong with an answer that is otherwise good but happens to repeat what other people have said. It can help a questioner to hear the same points more than once.

I've written duplicate answers before. Sometimes it's because the other one was posted while I was writing, or it's because I skimmed the other answers, didn't see what I had in my head, but it was there and I missed it. Then there are times I do see what I plan to write but I have another way to express it that I think is useful, so I do. If I see a long well-fleshed out answer that covers all the points I would have, I don't answer (though I might comment with an additional point or something).

If an answer is short and uninsightful and duplicates other answers, then I can see deleting it. I agree with others though: leave a comment saying why you want to delete it. I realize this is a double edged sword because the author will see it and maybe get pissed or argumentative. After getting some blowback, I tend not to leave comments at all when I take action on a post.

But as a reviewer, I don't vote to delete answers that seem like reasonable answers to the question. Give me a reason to delete and maybe I will.