The last time I tried that, I edited an answer that was several years out-of-date with a rewritten, up-to-date one that explained exactly how to do what the question asked, in a well-organized, sequential manner.
My edit was quickly rejected by a user who had no knowledge whatsoever of the technical domain in question, claiming that my edit went against the spirit or intention of the original answer's author. I then submitted mine as a separate answer, where it languishes at the bottom of the page, rarely noticed by users who come looking for the answer (and it's virtually the only hit on Google for the question, has been for years). They all see the outdated, poorly organized one instead.
So my work was a waste of time, shot down by an ignorant, mindless policy wonk whose only goal is to farm reputation points.
I have not contributed to SO since. I have better things to do with my time, like publish my own documentation on readmes on GitHub.