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    the help link available under every [Add Comment] button already explains the basics of replies, without littering comments with thousands of noise words. Also FYI, we detect when only two people are talking and notifications will work regardless. Try it... Commented Jul 3, 2011 at 9:38
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    furthermore, what you describe actually "teaches" new users something incorrect -- that is, the post owner is always notified of every comment, and seeing other "experienced" users choose to type @postowner would imply otherwise. Commented Jul 5, 2011 at 7:49
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    @Jeff: notification and content are two completely different things. Please don't try to argue that one implies and restricts the other. Commented Jul 8, 2011 at 16:35
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    @Jeff, you're applying a technical solution to a social problem. At some point the newbie will need to learn the @ protocol, and by introducing inconsistencies into the system you've made that much harder. As for teaching something incorrect - well it's only incorrect because you declared it so. You could easily change your mind. Commented Jul 8, 2011 at 21:40
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    @mark it isn't inconsistent; the post owner is always notified of every comment on their post, forever, always, in every possible circumstance, no matter what the contents of that comment are. The optional part is notifying someone else which is what @username is about. Commented Jul 8, 2011 at 22:11
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    @Jeff, it is inconsistent in that sometimes you need it, sometimes you don't and sometimes it's deleted, sometimes it isn't. It doesn't matter that there's a logical explanation, it's still an inconsistency in the interface. Commented Jul 8, 2011 at 22:19
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    @mark it is not inconsistent; you never need @postowner to notify the owner of a post about your comment. Period. Commented Jul 8, 2011 at 22:21
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    @Jeff, what I mean is that it's inconsistent depending on whether you're commenting to the post owner or to someone else. It's a UI inconsistency, not a logical inconsistency - I get your point too. Commented Jul 8, 2011 at 22:35
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    @Jeff: Who cares how the notification system handles this edge case. I don't think any of us who object to the behavior has a strong opinion. We're talking about the written content of a comment. Don't mess with my content! Commented Jul 9, 2011 at 1:22
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    @Jeff, you can't rely on the help link because nobody reads anything. Now where did I learn that? Oh yeah, here: codinghorror.com/blog/2009/10/treating-user-myopia.html Learning by example is much more reliable. Commented Jul 9, 2011 at 4:03
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    @Jeff, which is exactly the wrong thing to learn when they try to respond to someone else's comment a few minutes later. This is the essence of the inconsistency argument I'm trying to make above, and the whole point of the answer to which we're commenting. Commented Jul 9, 2011 at 4:52
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    @Jeff, I'd like to continue this as a chat: chat.meta.stackoverflow.com/rooms/399/… Be kind to me, this is my first exposure to the Chat rooms. Commented Jul 9, 2011 at 5:07
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    I find it really ironic that all of these comments are prefixed with "@username". Isn't that proof enough that this change should be revoked? Commented Aug 6, 2011 at 1:33
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    @Jeff The prefix is there for context and clarity. Do you go about deleting parts of answers just because they take up space? Signatures are one thing; they don't add any value to the question. These "in reply to" prefixes do add value, because it's extremely difficult to follow comment threads of 4+ comments without them. I know the content here is cc-wiki, but please don't insult our intelligence by assuming that part of our contributions are inherently worthless and simply "take up space" Commented Aug 30, 2011 at 6:38
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    @Jeff in addition, there are over 600,000 posts on SO that have at least four comments (so about 1 in 10), and nearly 50,000 posts that have at least 10. So even though the majority of posts won't benefit from the added context, the long tail of posts will. Isn't that what Stack Exchange is about? Catering to the long tail? ;) Commented Aug 30, 2011 at 6:43