Exceptional cases for list questions [duplicate]

Question

Disclaimer: I am starting this question because one of my questions was closed under this reasoning. However, I will attempt to remain objective.

The question that sparks this one is here: https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/22286/best-sites-for-an-intermediate-level-learner

Questions that promote lists and that cannot be answered with a defined correct answer are inherently bad for Stack Exchange sites. However, I am of the opinion that there are certain exceptional cases where the popularity of the question and informational benefit it brings exceeds the benefit that the "no lists" rule provides. They are very few and far between, but (in my experience) usually involve "where can I learn about [subject]?".

There is a precedent of certain list-provoking questions being very highly upvoted, showing that they are useful to people. I would like to propose that certain list-provoking questions are to be accepted, as long as they fit a certain set of criteria:

• The question has a provably high level of demand.
• The question is formatted well, with clear goals.
• The question is within the scope of the subject that the sub-site aims to cater for.
• The question cannot be asked in a different way, i.e. one that does not provoke lists.
• The question should not be something that can be split into separate specific questions, for example where there is no way that the asker (or someone else in their shoes) could gain the insight to be able to do that.
• The question is original, not a duplicate and cannot be answered by existing questions.
• The overall benefit of the question is considered to be greater than the benefit of the "no lists" rule. This is a general view that should really be applied for all rules.

Update: Thanks for the responses. It seems that there's a resounding "no" answer, so that's fair enough. I hadn't considered the moderation time required to prune all the extra answers. Anyway, I won't be following further responses and I think the major points have all been said, so if a moderator sees fit to lock this then that'd probably be for the best. However, keeping this question available as a point of reference for the future may be useful.

Answer 1

Your question https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/22286/best-sites-for-an-intermediate-level-learner is probably the worst kind of list question you can ask. Here's what happens:

1. The first 6 to 10 answers start out mostly ok because they're visible on the first page of the question and everyone can see if they're about to post a dupe link or not.

2. The next 11 - 20 answers provide maybe one or two new additions but because no-one can be bothered reading the first 6 to 10 answers duplicates creep in

3. After a month or so links start to rot on say 30% of the answers. Most of the folk who linked to dead destinations never respond to comments to fix the links. Mods are flagged to clean up these dead answers.

4. When the question is flagged and closed there's a big fuss made over it on the meta site. Moderators and sensible users, who see these questions for what they are, spend valuable time defending the closure and re-explaining the folly of such posts.

5. Peer pressure sees the question re-opened because of faithful promises to keep the question well maintained and as a canonical reference. The reality is that this doesn't happen, the question accretes more duplicate links and more links rot over time. Users and mods spend more time flagging, deleting, chasing to have links fixed, and what have you.

6. The question is forgotten about and 5-10 more "Best sites" questions are asked, no-one can remember the canonical question and these new questions either get closed as "not constructive" or slip through the radar being upvoted and answered by users who should know better.

7. And on and on and on it goes...until eventually after about two years the question is finally closed, locked and then thankfully dispatched, and you know what? Nobody cared or noticed.

What a huge waste of time.

These questions appear to be popular because they're easy to answer, everyone has an opinion and a favourite they want to show off.

As the months and years pass they degrade into sad, forgotten and unloved content just cluttering up search engine results with their uselessness.

Answer 2

Upvotes do not necessarily mean a question is good for the site. Hell, a bunch of the highest-voted questions on SO are closed and locked, with a message to the effect of "This question is here because it has historical value...don't use this question as evidence that you can ask similar questions here."

There are two different sets of votes for questions on SE sites:

• Upvotes and downvotes mean that someone liked or disliked the question, for whatever reason. Funny, interesting, or otherwise notable questions tend to attract upvotes whether they belong on the site or not.
• Close/reopen/delete/undelete votes (and flags, for the people who can't vote yet) are a measure of whether the question belongs on the site. Questions that aren't a good fit for the site can be closed regardless of who likes them (unless that someone happens to be a mod and locks the question).

List questions simply don't fit well within SE's format, so they tend to be closed.

Answer 3

If this is to stand a chance, I'd think you'd have to add:

• The list does not already exist elsewhere on the Internet.
• The list will be fairly static once compiled. (Once an entry is added to the list, it is very unlikely to ever be removed. Think "list of Nobel prize winners" or "published sci-fi authors who also have advanced degrees in a scientific field.")

I'd also like to add:

• The OP has to stick around to periodically maintain the list.

I've always thought the "no list of X questions" rule could be relaxed a little bit for exceptionally good questions, but since there's no way to enforce that last one I don't think I can throw my full support behind it.

Answer 4

Nowhere in your criteria does it appear that the question is likely to attract useful answers.

You do say at the end “the overall benefit of the question is considered to be greater than the benefit of the (…) rule”. Yes, I can get behind that, but you've failed to demonstrate the benefit of the question.

The worst thing a question that asks for a list can do is ask for or incite one item per answer. This is guaranteed to make the answers completely useless. Votes on the answers are more about who answered first than about which item is more popular, and more about which item is more popular than about which item is more useful. So one-item-per-answer ends up being a jumble from which it is hard to extract any meaning.

Ok, your question doesn't particularly incite one item per answer, so it's not to be shot on sight. In fact, it's more of a resource recommendation question than a resource list question. Now resource recommendation questions can work, sometimes. But only when the requirements are sufficiently precise, and, generally, only when there is a well-identified purpose. “I want to know more about X” is not a precise enough purpose. “Help me design a class curriculum, here's my general approach” would be an example of recommendation question that can work; you need more focus and less expectation of generality. (Even then, recommendations are delicate because they're subjective; they work in a questions-and-answers format only as long as they're not prone to leading to “mine is better because it just is” arguments.)

A far better venue for your question would be chat. You can give people an idea of where you're at, and they'll suggest things for you to read, and they'll criticize each other's suggestions, and in the end it'll be up to you to decide who to trust. The next person to come along will probably have a different background and different expectations, so they'll ask again, and get different answers. This is not the sort of situation that lends itself well to the part discussion forum, part encyclopedia nature of Stack Exchange Q&A.

P.S. Everybody thinks their question is an exception. The harsh truth is that no, your question is not special. The way to maintain a high-quality site is to encourage high-quality questions and reject low-quality questions. Even when the low-quality questions are yours.