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I was in need to subscribe to mail group hosted by Big Brother using my current mail, and I've found answer here: How can I subscribe to a Google mailing list with a non-Google e-mail address?

Only that it was not the accepted answer, but the answer posted later, because in the meantime the Big B has changed their URLs.

The question is still useful, only the accepted answer is misleading. Generally it is a problem with questions regarding third party web sites or API.

So what should be done with that question? Comment the outdated answer? I've done it. Beg for upvotes on actual answer? Posting on META is a bit of it. Closing as too localized? It would be a pity because Google Groups are really broadly used and that question is useful for a lot of people out there.

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  • In case the answer is edited, you should mention who wrote the answer or directly link to it in your post. Also, mention which answer is correct so we can vote for it!
    – Stevoisiak
    Jun 30, 2017 at 20:56
  • A comment left under the question may be more effective in pointing people to the currently valid answer, especially if the accepted answer is long and already has multiple comments.
    – user135384
    Jul 1, 2017 at 16:33

1 Answer 1

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I think you've done all you can do.

If it was just a question of some links being outdated, you could just edit the links. It doesn't seem that simple, though.

As there is another answer with the correct information, you can point people to that answer (which you've done).

The main complication is that the author of the original question no longer has an account here. Since the original Asker is the only one who can move that checkmark, we're kind of stuck with that answer.

On a site like Stack Overflow, the correct answer would get upvoted and the incorrect (accepted) answer would get downvoted, and relatively quickly it will become obvious to other people finding the question which answer is valid. Unfortunately, the number of active users here is several degrees of magnitude smaller than at Stack Overflow.

If it can be shown to be egregiously wrong, you might make a case to the Moderators that the answer should be deleted. They are, as you might suspect, reticent to delete upvoted content, especially accepted answers, but you can certainly try. The best way to do that is to flag the answer and in the "Needs Moderator attention" reason, give a detailed reason why the answer is wrong and is causing harm.

But, for us mere mortals, using our votes and other moderating powers is generally all we can do.

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    In that case the link was the answer (because it's not about clicking the link, but writing it), so editing the answer would mean copying 'correct' answer to 'incorrect' one, which would be AFAIK very very bad thing.
    – user157778
    Jun 20, 2017 at 13:44

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