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Saw a question posted today, reasonable question, well stated. With immediately below it, a good answer. Nothing especially deep or beyond the range of a little Wikipedia or other research, but a good answer with links to another question or two plus a couple of references. Accurate & straightforward, all good.

Then I notice that the answer was posted within a minute of the question, by the same account.

"Somebody might ask this, so let me ask it for him, and provide you my answer."

Hadn't seen that approach used before on other message boards or Stack Exchange boards, but that doesn't mean much. On the programming (Stack Overflow) boards, it's not uncommon to ask a question, and then later through the combination of inputs received plus one's own further research & effort, arrive at a solution, and then share that solution as a way to help others who may later have the same question that you started out with. That's not what happened here, though, and this seemed a little odd, ... let me post what I know (or, what I put together with a little research) in answer to nobody's question but my own. Is that an approved and/or a common way that topics get populated here?

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  • $\begingroup$ I assume you are talking about my question on vertically adjoined airspace? It was a theoretical question that came up on a forum I am a member of and people found it interesting. I thought: If people want to ask on the forum, they probably also would want to know here. I knew the answer already, so provided it. As Jon pointed out in his answer below, this is accepted and even encouraged through functionality here on SE. $\endgroup$
    – SentryRaven
    Commented Apr 11, 2015 at 17:03
  • $\begingroup$ No, not your question on airspace. I didn't actually notice that you were the one who provided the answer there. I did think that was a good question, though. $\endgroup$
    – Ralph J Mod
    Commented Apr 11, 2015 at 18:47
  • $\begingroup$ Ah.... Ignore me then, nothing to see here... :) $\endgroup$
    – SentryRaven
    Commented Apr 11, 2015 at 18:47
  • $\begingroup$ @SentryRaven Probably he saw one of my Q&As as I did that several times. HAHAHA (Dr Evil) $\endgroup$
    – Farhan
    Commented Apr 13, 2015 at 12:57
  • $\begingroup$ In all seriousness, several times when I was thinking about a question, the little research I do to make it a good question gives enough material to compose an answer too. As you see (in the answer below) that this feature is acceptable on SE. But many people have issues with it and start downvoting immediately. But I'm glad that you asked about the reason behind this feature. $\endgroup$
    – Farhan
    Commented Apr 13, 2015 at 13:04

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Yes, this is not only normal and encouraged, but there's a feature designed to support this use case:

http://blog.stackoverflow.com/wp-content/uploads/AnswerYourOwnQuestion.png

Now when you ask a question, you’ll see that checkbox right there, reminding you of the option to answer your question on the spot. Furthermore, the answer will be published at the same time as the question, avoiding that awkward moment where well-meaning people rush in to answer something you've already got an answer for.

If the asker was planning to answer the question they probably should have used that checkbox. However, rubber ducky problem solving happens fairly often. Sometimes moments after your finish writing a question, you come across the answer by chance. In any case, there's nothing wrong with answering your own question.

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    $\begingroup$ Yup. Normal, no (usually you don't know the answer, that's why you're asking other people). Encouraged, yes (if you know, or find, the answer you should share the knowledge). Questions like this are also sometimes spawned in chat, and if someone decides it's a question others might be interested in they may migrate that knowledge to the main site where it's more visible. $\endgroup$
    – voretaq7 Mod
    Commented Apr 11, 2015 at 3:07
  • $\begingroup$ The iOS app, and probably some other platforms, don't have that checkbox, so that's another reason to not use that option. $\endgroup$
    – raptortech97
    Commented Apr 12, 2015 at 20:55
  • $\begingroup$ @raptortech97 If you talking about AskDifferent, you can self-answer your own question. I cannot understand why people have a problem with this feature. $\endgroup$
    – Farhan
    Commented Apr 13, 2015 at 13:10
  • $\begingroup$ @Farhan no, I'm talking about posting a question from the iOS app. $\endgroup$
    – raptortech97
    Commented Apr 13, 2015 at 13:13
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From the help centre: "Stack Exchange has always explicitly encouraged users to answer their own questions."

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