What happens if you flag someone?
I am wondering what happens when you flag someone, because it says if you reach up to 100 reputation points, you can flag people. Also, I would also like to know why you would flag someone! Please help! Thanks!
4 Answers
A flag is just that, a flag! It draws attention to a post - be it a question, an answer or a comment.
When you flag, you will have a choice of the following reasons:
Unclear or Inaccurate
Spam
Offensive or Abusive Speech
** Requires Moderator Attention**
I think most of us don't flag for the first reason, except in the case of an wrong answer being accepted, or just a really bad post.
A wrong answer not only affects the person accepting it, but it looks to an innocent bystander as though it was a good answer - when clearly it wasn't. Please flag when you see that.
2 and #3 should be automatic. Flag them.
4 is redundant - flagging for any of those other reasons will bring it to Admin's attention.
You should not flag indiscriminately, of course, but flags can be, and sometimes are, reversed by Admin after viewing the situation.
The least important consideration is the point deduction. Most spammers have no points to lose, and the offensive/abusive post should cost all of the points - there is never a justification for that.
The flag can be removed, the points can be reinstated. Consider the flag one more tool of this site. Thought through, and included for a reason.
Flagging someone does make the person lose 10 reputation points, but the purpose is to call a moderator's attention to a post that detracts so severely from the purpose of the site that it needs urgent deletion or correction. If the post simply has mistakes, that's not what flagging is for, in my opinion. This is a place to learn, and we learn by making mistakes.
But if the post seriously violates the forum guidelines, and simply responding to it in a comment or answer won't address the problem, a flag might be necessary.
I avoid doing it, both because I'm pretty new to the site and because I don't want to dock points from someone for an impulsive or simply poorly thought out post. But I have done it a couple of times to mark posts that were clearly malicious.
Thanks for the question, Mizu.
Revmaf made some good comments, and LateToDinner gave the perfect answer. 
As Qfreed says, we rely on our members to call our attention to posts and comments that may be inappropriate for the forum.
Also, sometimes an answer is obviously incorrect but has been accepted by the person who asked the question. A flag is warranted in that situation.
If you flagged anyone he - she will lose 10 reputations .
Hope this helps 
