# Minimum character count in a post - why?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/minimum-character-count-in-a-post-why/277486
**Category:** Site feedback
**Created:** [September 1, 2023, 12:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/minimum-character-count-in-a-post-why/277486 "2023-09-01T12:08:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2023, 12:08pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/minimum-character-count-in-a-post-why/277486/1 "2023-09-01T12:08:25Z")
> [@Fast Highlight](https://meta.discourse.org/t/fast-highlight/277528/3):
>
> that limit actually quite often increases noise that decreases
I think the idea is not to just write ‘why?’ and a load of filler, but to expand on your question a little to provide much-needed context as to why you’re asking the question. For instance, this:
> [@Fast Highlight](https://meta.discourse.org/t/fast-highlight/277528/3):
>
> Why?
Versus this:
> [@Introducing fast edit](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-fast-edit/204182/42):
>
> What would the highlight button do? Can you give me an example of when you’d use it?
---
### Author:  [@Jagster](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Jagster)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2023, 12:18pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/minimum-character-count-in-a-post-why/277486/2 "2023-09-01T12:18:07Z")
This has to be somekind culture question, because your two sentences is exactly same as plain _why_ - but decorated with small talk.
Anyway - same type filling happends here every now and then and by natives.
This branch is more suitable for chat, I reckon. We are missing that moving option, aren’t we
---
### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2023, 12:23pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/minimum-character-count-in-a-post-why/277486/3 "2023-09-01T12:23:26Z")
> [@Jagster](#):
>
> This has to be somekind culture question, because your two sentences is exactly same as plain _why_ - but decorated with small talk.
Why?
---
### Author:  [@Jagster](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Jagster)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2023, 12:41pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/minimum-character-count-in-a-post-why/277486/4 "2023-09-01T12:41:47Z")
Because you anglo-germans are teached to avoid direct talk and you/them are following that very north american style because of corporate ownerships and influence of TV/movie.
Sorry, you didn’t make your point 😝 But did you see how much easier, faster and precise that short word was?
But seriously? From my point of view _why_ is a legit question in all situations where original text is too wide without any clear purpose, and actual comment or question depends on what is the main reason/goal/purpose, aka. why.
And I’m dead serious about that small talk aspect. It is from USA and I’m not sure if canadiens are as big users of small talk than people behind southern border.
---
### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [September 1, 2023, 12:58pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/minimum-character-count-in-a-post-why/277486/5 "2023-09-01T12:58:17Z")
I think giving that extra context when counter-arguing potential features helps frame the discussion. It also demonstrates you’ve engaged with the idea and are not just shooting from the hip. Defining why you’re asking ‘why’ is really helpful, and leaving the question too open-ended can result in not getting an answer to the specific point you were asking why about.
For instance, you answered ‘Why do you think this is some kind of culture question?’ and what I was asking was ‘Why do you think asking for a practical example is small talk?’
Having a handful of extra words can remove a lot of the ambiguity.
---
### Author:  [@pfaffman](https://meta.discourse.org/u/pfaffman)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/minimum-character-count-in-a-post-why/277486/6 "2023-09-02T00:55:03Z")
If you think that 3 letter responses are appropriate for your community, you can change the setting.
---
### Author:  [@Jagster](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Jagster)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2023, 12:58am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/minimum-character-count-in-a-post-why/277486/7 "2023-09-02T00:58:16Z")
I did, but using two letters. Because _no_ is quite often totally appropiate answer.
---
### Author:  [@darkpixlz](https://meta.discourse.org/u/darkpixlz)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2023, 2:03am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/minimum-character-count-in-a-post-why/277486/8 "2023-09-02T02:03:53Z")
The use cases for small replies like yes or no are limited. I think 10 for posts and 30 for topics is ideal.
10 works fine for most simple yes/no conversations without creating too much spam - just getting rid of it will encourage a lot of spam.
---
### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [September 2, 2023, 5:19am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/minimum-character-count-in-a-post-why/277486/9 "2023-09-02T05:19:50Z")
> [@Jagster](#):
>
> I did, but using two letters. Because _no_ is quite often totally appropiate answer.
I’m all up for people tailoring their own sites however they wish, but hopefully I’ve managed to convey why that would most likely not be appropriate on here.
(Just a friendly heads up in case you get any of your posts flagged and/or deleted 🙂)