<p>Welcome messages are not noise.</p>

<p>Early on in the life of this site, the SE Team actively <em>encouraged</em> posting comments to help people feel welcome.  I therefore always decline flags that suggest those comments are "too chatty" and I usually keep the welcoming comment intact.  I personally make an effort to identify newcomers who are likely to contribute beyond some immediate question and I post such comments myself.  There is nothing like a tiny personal touch (inside this vast impersonal, troll-infested Internet) to make a big impact on a new user.</p>

<p>There are many things about the SE system that do not work very well, in part because it maintains inherently conflicting objectives.  Each community therefore has to find, through trial and experience, an approach best suited to it.  Even after five years we have attracted only a very tiny sliver of the community of people who study, know, or care about statistics and machine learning.  We should continue to do everything we can to invite and keep more people.  Let's make them feel welcome and appreciated.  Let's not worry that doing so might violate some vague guideline about "chattiness."</p>
