If a question receives down-votes before any answer is added, is there any reason why the asker should not simply delete that question and re-submit moments later, besides the waste of time?
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6I feel like if you post the exact same question again, you'll get the same response of downvotes.– The Guy with The HatCommented Mar 24, 2017 at 21:54
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cross-site duplicate: Can self-censoring end up with a question ban? "What matters are poorly-received posts. That is, questions that are downvoted, closed, or flagged as inappropriate in some way. These can all result in post bans and also all result in the post being deleted, but saying deletion is to blame for most post bans is akin to saying that hospitals are to blame for most diseases..."– gnatCommented Mar 25, 2017 at 11:08
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1If I see a question and I downvote it, and then 5 minutes later I see it was deleted, and 5 minutes later I see the same question reposted without a vote. I am going to down the question and then flag it for a moderator to close with a link to the deleted question every single time.– RamhoundCommented Mar 25, 2017 at 14:58
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@Ramhound By curiosity, how is it possible to link to a deleted question/post?– iBug says Reinstate MonicaCommented Mar 26, 2017 at 0:19
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@iBug Flag it for moderators attention and your browser history– RamhoundCommented Mar 26, 2017 at 0:39
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6 Answers
Deleted questions count towards the automated question ban (and them having downvotes even more so).
If done often, such a user can find themselves unable to ask more questions, simply due to deleting them.
Your scenario - I suspect that the resubmitted question would get the same reception and bring on the question ban that much more quickly.
answered Mar 24, 2017 at 21:54
Speaking as a Moderator, if I see someone deleting content simply to remove down-votes (i.e. post, <down-votes>, delete, post again), they would almost certainly receive a nastygram from me or someone else. If it becomes a pattern, that user may find themselves blocked from posting or potentially no longer able to participate in the site.
answered Mar 24, 2017 at 22:02
I think that is quite counterproductive. You are wasting your time and ours. The downvotes send you a message: fix this question before you do anything else.
Deleting and reposting brings you nowhere. The question will get even more downvotes and no answers either. It does bring you in trouble since you are then one step closer to get yourself question banned. I find this behavior abusing the system.
What you should do if fix the question: make it clearer, less broad and on-topic.
answered Mar 24, 2017 at 21:57
It wastes your time and others. And it doesn't actually address the reasons behind the downvote. And would contribute towards a question ban. There's a better way.
The best time to hit that delete button is never. I've often found spending a little time to know what's on scope, and what's a good question before asking the question helps. A good chunk of new posters with terrible posts have not read the help or how to guides provided.
People also often comment. Try to take this as folks with good intentions and if its something fixable, fix it. Narrow your scope if its too broad, clarify if its unclear and so on. I'd post a comment saying "Hey, I narrowed the scope" or "I've attempted to clarify" and get a response. Edited questions can have downvotes reversed too.
If you want to take your time to edit, and want to avoid negative feedback in the meanwhile, maybe delete, edit, and undelete. As a moderator, I often comment on posts that I delete which might be valuable with extensive fixes with "Please flag this post for undeletion once you have fixed these problems". Deletions are reversible just for this reason, as are downvotes.
Deleting and reasking is a sure recipe for a question ban. Think, ask and fix instead.
answered Mar 25, 2017 at 0:52
I got a question ban by deleting many number of such questions in last month. I did it because at that time, I am having very low reputation and I don't want to lose reputation.
But after the ban, I didn't deleted questions anymore.
The ban will be removed only after your other questions positively reached.
Remember
A downvote can loss you only 2 reputation, which can be gain by editing any other single post( or you can gain 5 times of it by answering a question with a single upvote).
If you can't find why you got the downvote, leave the question as it is.
If the question is highly unacceptable by the community, the Mods will delete it and you will get the rep back(excluding spam)
answered Mar 25, 2017 at 2:34
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1Late react: if you know that the question is good, but somehow it is voted down, then I think it is better to leave as it is. The downs actually don't harm too much, and the community shows from itself its morality. Having many, highly visited but downvoted question is a better critic of the voters as many meta posts. The few lost rep can be easily got back by writing some good answers. The important thing is: if you think you are right, then resist the downvote pressure.– peterhCommented Mar 29, 2018 at 22:16
As you can see, yes, there is a penalty and it is not really popular in view of our most powerful companions.
Unfortunately, our lesser powerful companions still like to punish people with a lot of downvotes. They don't have to explain its reason, it is an unavoidable consequence of the voting anonymity.
Thus, fighting them, you can delete your posts if you wish. In my first times of the meta SE, I did it so with my questions: if the first vote was a down, I deleted it on the spot. And so I did with my answers, too. For example, I could get around 50 rep by deleting my most downvoted answers here. But I don't do it, I think so is it well as it is.
The main disadvantage of this strategy, that by removing the post you get back only a few reoutation, while you give up the information what you could have represented for the community. Check the ratio of the views and the votes - it is mostly between 10-30. If you remove a question what could have got, for example, 10 downs and 2 ups, you give up with it that you can communicate to hundreds of people.
It is up to you, if you delete your posts. The anonym voting is imho a fair rule, but the community decides the voting count of your posts sometimes on unfair ways (look the voting count of this post, for example). It is a weapon for you against them, it is up to you, when do you use it. I mostly don't use it since a while, but not on ethical, but on practical reason.
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4Very bad advice here. The fact you don't care getting banned and suspended just because you hate Stack Exchange does not mean others have to follow. Commented Mar 24, 2017 at 22:47
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3I have to ask, based on a number of your responses to questions on Meta, why are you still here if you hate it so much? Users don't get that much rep without either knowing the system or being around for a long time, so which one is it and why do you bother?– NijCommented Mar 24, 2017 at 22:51
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@ShadowWizard 1. I don't hate the stackexchange, but I am critical with some of its collective behaviors 2. I care cages. But the question is about downvoted posts and not about cages 3. Posting downvoted questions (and answers) is mainly not a reason for cage. But they can cause question ban, as Oded explained. 5. Getting around 3 unexplained, groundless antagonistic suspections from an old site member in a single comment actually supports my view.– peterhCommented Mar 24, 2017 at 22:55
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1@Nij I hate??? Who? My existence here shows you, that the SE has actually far broader tolerance against the non-mainstream, unpopular views, as the communities on it. A continuous demonstration of an unconditional loyality, what I can see here from you and from a lot of others, is probably not what the SE wants from you. The SE wants from you to produce interesting content and good view rate, also the reputation system is tuned for it, and I think I am good in it, without giving up my soul.– peterhCommented Mar 24, 2017 at 23:06
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5You suggest to do things that hurt Stack Exchange as whole. So yes, you hate Stack Exchange because you want to hurt it. You might not understand the meaning of "hate". Commented Mar 25, 2017 at 9:07
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@ShadowWizard Are you really explaining, that having different, non-mainstream opinions are hurting? Really?– peterhCommented Mar 25, 2017 at 11:02
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1It is not a case of different opinion. You suggest to delete questions after a single downvote. Downvotes don't always mean "the question is total crap and must be deleted", they usually mean "the question should be improved". So by only deleting, and not improving, the overall quality is just decreasing. Commented Mar 25, 2017 at 11:17
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@ShadowWizard 1) Yes, it is exactly about different opinions, you seem to strongly hate them, it is a highly unfriendly phenomenon on the SE, and I think it is honest to resist it 2) Deleting content moves back the overall quality exactly where it was before the posting. Thus a posted and then deleted content doesn't harm anything 3) Instead what you imagine what I suggested, the essence of this post is to represent your view - accept the downs, and don't flee (what I didn't put in, but I think it is obvious: except if you were convinced by arguments, and not by "convinced" by the downs)– peterhCommented Mar 25, 2017 at 11:31
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@ShadowWizard 4) Your idea to "improve" the post and then be happy on the revoked downvotes is surreal - also you know very well, most of the voters won't ever come back, thus the "improvement" would be fruitless. Maybe in the case of a question it can stop an ongoing close vote, but even this doesn't work everywhere (there are sites where the vtc "culture" is that everybody votes always with "close").– peterhCommented Mar 25, 2017 at 11:34