New "Low Quality" option in the Hide comment menu

[moraesc]

We're excited to announce that a new "Low quality" classification option is now available in the Hide comment menu across issues, discussions, pull requests, and commits. Check out the changelog for more details.

Why are we releasing this?

We’re consistently  hearing from maintainers that low-quality contributions, including comments, are on the rise across GitHub. These comments represent an increasing burden for maintainers and moderators who are responsible for keeping their communities healthy and productive. Sifting through unhelpful, off-topic, or low-effort comments takes time away from the work that matters most.

Until now, the available classification options in the Hide comment menu were designed around traditionally spammy content. While these categories remain important, they don't accurately reflect a distinct and growing class of comments: those that aren't necessarily spam or abusive, but are simply unhelpful, low-effort, or otherwise low quality.

This distinction matters. Spam and low-quality comments are fundamentally different in nature, and conflating the two makes it harder to accurately report, track, and understand moderation patterns. By separating them, we can ensure that each category is reported correctly and that the data we collect is meaningful.

Accurate classification is also the foundation for what can come next. As we gather better signal on what constitutes low-quality content, we can build smarter systems around it to handle these comments before they become a burden for maintainers.

How do I use it?

1. Navigate to any comment on an issue, discussion, pull request, or commit.
2. Select the ... menu on the comment.
3. Choose Hide comment.
4. Select Low quality from the classification dropdown.

We want your feedback!

We'd love your input. Drop your questions or feedback in the comments below. A few things we're curious about:

• Has the new classification option helped you moderate more accurately?
• Are there other classification options you'd like to see added to the Hide comment menu?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
 

[abinaze]

From my perspective, this is a useful and timely addition to the moderation workflow.

Separating “low quality” content from spam or abusive content makes the classification system more accurate and meaningful. In many open-source discussions, the majority of moderation effort is spent on comments that are not harmful but still reduce signal quality—off-topic remarks, low-effort responses, or incomplete contributions. Having a dedicated category for this helps better reflect real community maintenance challenges.

It also improves long-term moderation insights. With clearer labeling, it should be easier to identify patterns in low-effort participation and potentially design better preventive systems rather than relying only on reactive moderation.

One suggestion I would add is to provide clearer guidance or examples for what qualifies as “low quality,” since interpretation may vary across maintainers and repositories. Consistency in usage will be important for the data to be truly useful.

Overall, this is a practical improvement that strengthens moderation granularity and supports healthier discussion spaces.

[typed-sigterm]

low quality option is exactly for comments like this