Is it good practice to delete comments to which other comments respond?

Question

I've noticed on at least one meta-post that somebody has gone through and deleted all their comments on an answer I made, leaving my comments hanging there without context, which seems to negate the value of me bothering to answer or comment at all. Is this deleting of comments good practice?

Update: I'm not concerned about comments being deleted because they've been converted into an answer, or are otherwise no longer relevant, just about half of a discussion vanishing without any apparent reason. I'm still finding my way around the 'etiquette' here.

Answer 1

I can't speak for all users, but the number one reason I delete mine is that they have become obsolete. For example:

@user did you mean "ABC" instead of "ZBC"?

@luke Yes. It's fixed now.

When a comment becomes obsolete like that, I usually delete it. Often the other user does likewise. Removing obsolete comments helps clean up posts. If the other user doesn't catch the drift and delete his now obsolete comment, you can click the red flag beside his comment. Select "obsolete" and a moderator will hopefully see the flag and delete the now obsolete comment/comments.

Answer 2

Yes, comments are ephemeral by design. Comments are there to ask for clarification or to make suggestions for the post. But once their purpose has been served, the comments should be removed. It's completely normal and encouraged.

You acted exactly as designed; you removed your comments that were no longer needed. But if you see long comment threads that no longer seem applicable (that you cannot delete yourself), you can flag them for moderator attention.

Should moderators delete obsolete and resolved comment threads?

Answer 3

I assume you are talking about my comments on the Fisher meta question. I deleted them mostly because I'm converting the comments to the body of an answer.