display order of answers to questions

[Bill Sheboy]

Greetings, community!

When one asks a question, the suggested solutions are apparently displayed in this order, first to last:

• pinned answers by community managers take precedence over all other content
• when there are no pinned posts, sort by...
  • selected answers, then sub-sort by...
    • highest vote count
    • date / time posted oldest to newest
  • when there are no selected answers, sort by...
    • highest vote count
    • date / time posted, oldest to newest
  • when there are no selected answers or votes yet
    • date / time posted, newest to oldest

That last one is puzzling to me.

The conversation threads are listed in oldest to newest ordering, which makes sense for reading from beginning to end.  And accepted / voted for answers also use that time ordering.

Why would the last-posted suggestion be biased toward the top of the list?  This seems to incentivize the trolling behavior of re-posting what has already been suggested, as if it is newer / better / etc. than the existing content, and of adding bot-generated content for more views.

What are your thoughts?

Kind regards,
Bill

[Susan Waldrip]

Good point, @Bill Sheboy . Although I try to look at all the answers to ensure whatever I might post isn't duplicative, sorting consistency would be helpful.

[Stephen_Lugton]

I often find that in the time it takes me to write my answer, look up any links needed, review and check what I've written then submit it, 3 other people have done the same thing