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I've been looking through the site and I'm very aware of some stats that we're lacking on for the beta to graduate.

There is a large proportion of good answers that have been up voted by the community but not accepted by the op.

Now this doesn't look quite like the typical 'hit and run' style of question - as the OP has gone on to ask other questions too.

So on this note, is it a bad/good idea to perhaps pop a gentle reminder in a comment recommending accepting the answer (if they found it suitable). I think some people either forget to come back and mark it as solved, or are waiting for more/better answers - but even then, I think a reasonable time limit should be applied.

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Unfortunately, the persistence of these "gentle reminders" starts to amount to systematic (or at least system-wide) harassment — so we generally ask users to forgo the activity completely. The system already prompts the user to accept answers when warranted. But accepting an answer is a completely voluntary activity, and it is up to the user to decide when (and if) an answer should be accepted at all.

If this were only an occasional nudge, we'd probably just leave them as a helpful reminder towards a feature they may simply be unaware of. But as the sites start to fill with them, it becomes unwelcoming as the noise and harassment level of this feature starts to outweigh its benefits. I'd just leave it alone.

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    I'm aware that on a graduated site that it might be an inconvenience/clutter - but whilst the site was in BETA, I did wonder whether we need to just nudge people that little bit to encourage them to stay active to keep the site active. But nevertheless, consider it done.
    – Ben Lessani
    Commented May 20, 2013 at 14:23
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    @sonassi Don't forget to mark this as the answer, Ben :-D (if appropriate)
    – benmarks Mod
    Commented May 20, 2013 at 14:33
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    Never, I'm waiting for a better one to come along ...
    – Ben Lessani
    Commented May 20, 2013 at 14:48
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    @sonassi If anything, this is a bigger problem during the beta when the site is smaller and the activity is more concentrate across fewer questions. Graduation, beta; makes no difference.
    – Robert Cartaino
    Commented May 20, 2013 at 14:49
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    IMO the larger portion of the problematic posts are from those newer to SE/SO. Many here never did use SO, so we are starting with rookie users. I like Robert's answer though... :)
    – davidalger
    Commented May 20, 2013 at 17:41

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