Over the last couple of weeks, I have found myself wondering about the closure (or near-closure) of some questions on Meta. All of these questions were closed as "not constructive". And in each instance I thought "what exactly isn't constructive about this question?". Especially within the context of Meta.
Some recent examples of what I'm referring to are:
- Does the tag system need revamping?Does the tag system need revamping? (3 votes so far)
- Where can I find out more about the process of tag cleanup on a Stack Exchange site?Where can I find out more about the process of tag cleanup on a Stack Exchange site? (3 votes so far)
- http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/170188/what-is-done-to-extend-outreach-to-other-countries-and-yes-womenhttps://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/170188/what-is-done-to-extend-outreach-to-other-countries-and-yes-women (by now deleted, so 10k only)
- What do you think of this suggested edit?What do you think of this suggested edit? (4 such votes so far)
And I remember commenting on a couple of others. I'm not suggesting that this is a recent change on Meta. Perhaps nothing changed at all. It is merely something I noticed and paid attention to.
To be honest, I just don't get it. Not all of the questions are great, some have content I disagree with (and I have left comments indicating that), but I don't see how they are "not constructive". Especially on Meta, where discussion is allowed and welcomed (if on-topic).
So my questions are:
- What makes these posts "not constructive"?
- Should these really be closed? Or put in another way, what is the problem in leaving them opened?
- Are we perhaps using this reason to replace/create a close reason we're missing?
- Do we use it to indicate a question/discussion has "run its course"?
- Are we perhaps using it to indicate disagreement?
I would love to hear your thoughts. I have been called out for close votes before which were misinterpreted, so who knows what I'm overlooking in this instance.
For reference, and for those who can't close - the Meta description for not constructive
: