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The flagging page specifically states: "Something not quite right? Let us know about it."

I was flagging some items yesterday, including this question, which says:

The main problem I have is that there's a limit to the amount of requests I can make per minute. I've been searching on google for certain methods to use cache files to override this

I flagged it with the message:

From my understanding, this could lead to spamming of reddit. This question does not sit right with me.

It got declined because:

a moderator reviewed your flag, but found no evidence to support it

No evidence? Are you serious? He's looking to override the rate limiting on Reddit's API.

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  • @Kev Could lead to. Regardless, it didn't really fall into a NaRQ flag, but that seems to be the catch-all flag.
    – Drise
    Commented Jul 17, 2012 at 15:13
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    @Drise - we don't police other site API T&C's. It's a bad question but it's not spam or offensive on our site. No crime was committed here.
    – Kev Mod
    Commented Jul 17, 2012 at 15:15
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    See here: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/22174/… - "The Offensive flag is meant to be used only in extreme cases, like hate speech, or abuse."
    – Kev Mod
    Commented Jul 17, 2012 at 15:18
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    @Kev Erm.. I didn't use the offensive flag?
    – Drise
    Commented Jul 17, 2012 at 15:21
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    According to the mod tools it was flagged as spam which falls into the same bucket. i.e. we see a big red flag indicating that there is a really serious problem with a post.
    – Kev Mod
    Commented Jul 17, 2012 at 15:25
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    @Kev I definitely didn't mark it as spam.
    – Drise
    Commented Jul 17, 2012 at 15:30
  • @Drise Actually, I think the OP there used the wrong word: They wanted a queue, and it was specifically to avoid exceeding the rate limit. (none of which has any bearing on the appropriateness of the flag)
    – Andrew Barber
    Commented Jul 17, 2012 at 16:22
  • He is serious, and please call him Shirley.
    – user7116
    Commented Jul 17, 2012 at 16:59

2 Answers 2

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I declined your flag.

Taking the flag on its own, without looking at the question (which is what happened in this case), the flag was about enforcing rules/TOS/EULA for another product/site/etc.

Stack Overflow moderators are not responsible for enforcing the agreements between two third parties, we only enforce the agreements between Stack Exchange and its members (note this is the same reason that we decline iOS (insert version here) questions that are under NDA).

That said, I declined the flag, because it's not up to me to determine whether or not a user is trying to so something Reddit doesn't approve of.

I probably should have chosen "flags should only be used for things that require a moderators attention"; this would have been more apt. Sorry for the confusion.

I did look at the question afterwards, and noticed that the question doesn't meet the standards for the site in general, and closed it on the spot.

It just so happened that the two actions were disjointed which is why you see a closure but the flag was declined. Note that the closure had nothing to do with what was being asked, but the quality of what was being asked.

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  • 1
    Fair enough. Thank you for clearing it up.
    – Drise
    Commented Jul 17, 2012 at 17:02
  • Could you clarify how it doesn't meet SO standards? Just for future reference?
    – Drise
    Commented Jul 17, 2012 at 17:09
  • @Drise Shows no original research effort. It's a "gimme teh codez" question (basically asking to write the code for them) which is typically closed with a NARQ close reason. Note that if they were facing an actual problem and had clearly indicated the problem as well as what they have tried, it would be a valid question on Stack Overflow and should not be closed.
    – casperOne Mod
    Commented Jul 17, 2012 at 17:11
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Generally speaking, moderators do not evaluate questions based on what might happen to another site, or if the code might be used for evil purposes. Nevertheless, I typically close questions like this as Too Localized.

It fascinates me that people think they can get help hacking someone else's site by asking a question on Stack Overflow. Sometimes, they actually get an answer.

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  • if you can get help on hacking something on SO, the target (of the hacking) is beyond help on its right own; still too localized, though
    – bestsss
    Commented Jul 17, 2012 at 22:45

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