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In this question I asked for a simple video annotation tool and got an answer by JBaruch with a good recommendation, the program does the trick, but in a not so good answer (at least in my opinion, but also considering this meta post).

I wrote my own answer which (I hope you agree) is better, but it still recommends the same program. My question is, is that ok? Is it ok to write another answer while recommending the same program?

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In my opinion its better to edit post, making it more complete and making whole thread less cluttered. For example in this case I added screen-shots and corrected links.

Probably it depends on quality of the answer itself, but on long term I believe less cluttered and more precise answers, should be way to go.

Original Poster should not object, and its always better to have one good answer, than 2 or more recommending the exact same software.

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It depends somewhat on the quality of the original question, and how drastically it would need to be edited by you to make it good.

  • If you need to add a single bullet point or a screenshot to make it good, it's better to edit.

  • If you need to add so much that your new content will be 2x or more the size of the original answer, it's better to add your own.

  • If original answer is so bad that people are massively downvoting it, you should not consider it your job to edit it into shape. Post your own that is good even if the same software is being recommended.

Remember, the point of the site isn't to simply LIST software. It's to recommend it, and giving the software name is the former, not the latter.

Thus an answer which recommends the same software as a poor answer but adds actual recommendation part is NOT in a duplicate in any way.

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There are two different scenarios but I would offer the same answer for both.

  1. You add a different answer with the same recommendation for somebody else's question.
  2. You add a different answer with the same recommendation for your own question.

I see little problem with this if the answer is more complete. However, there I would propose a better way: You could quite easily, with enough reputation privilege, edit the existing answer to put in more detail. I doubt if the poster of the original answer would object to the addition of more detail and it provides better information for future viewers of the site.

Also, one edited answer makes the overall question post less cluttered, which must be a good thing.

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