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EDIT: i have accepted (by upvoting) the accepted answer in Question is very popular but closed (not constructive) - Shouldn't it be reopened for users' benefit?. That stackoverflow does not want everything is a good argument, even if it just could be hidden and even if very popular subjects do not develop further that way. END EDIT

Example:

Getting started with Haskell

Numbers: Friday, 2013.11.1

Question:

  • 621 upvotes
  • 812 times favourite question
  • 184 upvotes for comment: 'Why is it that the most helpful questions I find on SO are always "NOT CONSTRUCTIVE"?'
  • 64 upvotes for comment 'Amen, @kaustubh. It is a disease Stack Overflow has contracted, and it is running out of control. Sad, but I don't think it can be reversed at this point' (well i think it can)

Accepted Answer:

  • 1073 upvotes
  • 160 upvotes for comment 'This is a really remarkable answer. +1 seems almost mean. Thank you'

4 more answers with >= 30 upvotes

On the other Hand, the admin who closed the question has Questions/Answers related to 1,057 tags, but:

  • 0 Questions/Answers tagged 'Haskell'
  • 7 Questions/Answers tagged 'functional programming' (2 accepted answers)

I think, this is quite a disbalance, if one guy without much experience in a subject can stop the subject, even if it interests a tousand guys (maybe more).

I suggest therefore to Auto-open a question if it has a very high amount of upvotes.

Advantage:

  • Admins can say: "Ok, everybody upvote this and it will reopen."
  • it gives users another reason to be proactive and upvote stuff they like.

Disadvantage:

  • Admins may say: "I am not sure/I dont care, lets just close it for now, as everybody can upvote this anyway and it will reopen."

Maybe there are better solutions.

Whatever you think/decide, i think that this specific question deserves clearly to be reopened as the problem of using it in Practice is a concrete one. If you do not believe me, try to write an increment function in that language.

Improve this question
23
  • 17
    Popularity does not have a direct correlation with quality. See Justin Bieber
    – JonW
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:23
  • @JonW Popularity in Haskell maybe does
    – Nils Lindemann
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:25
  • The one moderator who closed it might not have much subject knowledge (that we know of), but will have an excellent grasp on which kind of questions the site has determined are not appropriate. That doesn't mean the content has no value, but those questions (in general) are not good for the site.
    – Bart
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:25
  • 2
    Questions like that are considered way to broad for Stack Overflow. There was one time that they were permitted and accepted (hence the huge # of upvotes) but the community (not a moderator) decided that they don't think those questions are nearly as valuable as they appear to be and now they are no longer welcome.
    – psubsee2003
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:28
  • 2
    But why does it need to be reopened? It is in no danger of getting deleted. All closing does is prevent more answers. Are the existing answers not sufficient?
    – psubsee2003
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:30
  • Popularity is not correlated with either quality nor suitability to the site.
    – Oded
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:31
  • @psubsee2003 "but the community (not a moderator) decided that they don't think those questions are nearly as valuable as they appear to be and now they are no longer welcome." References?
    – Nils Lindemann
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:31
  • @Nils personal experience. Everything on this site is community moderated.
    – psubsee2003
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:32
  • 1
    @Nils Just research a bit. There are tons of past meta discussions on such subjects.
    – Bart
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:32
  • @psubsee2003 "Are the existing answers not sufficient?" There may be new ones. And it in general depresses users if something is closed. See the upvoted negative comment on the page i refer to in my question.
    – Nils Lindemann
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:37
  • @psubsee2003, Bart "personal experience" and "Just research a bit" is not a reference.
    – Nils Lindemann
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:39
  • @Nils Such statements as in the upvoted comment are usually pretty self-centred. (Though most likely meant well). They are based on a "this is useful to me" sentiment. But they don't take into account whether or not such questions are ultimately useful for the site as a whole. They might be popular, and you might find something of use there, but they ultimately have several problems that made the community decide we should no longer support them.
    – Bart
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:40
  • 1
    @Nils Refusing to "research a bit" and demanding the evidence of a general shift in community attitude to be handing to you on a plate, via a few meta links, might be construed as a little lazy on your part.
    – Duncan Jones
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:52
  • @Bart "But they don't take into account whether or not such questions are ultimately useful for the site as a whole" - "invite sharing experiences over opinions" in meta.stackoverflow.com/help/dont-ask can mark a useful question. And if an answer to such a question gets one thousand+ upvotes and that question is closed - that is a bad decision.
    – Nils Lindemann
    Nov 1, 2013 at 10:01
  • 4
    @Nils Please don't get into all that nonsense. This is not a duel. I'll happily supply you with some links at some point, if I have the time. But we simply expect users to do some of their own research. That's all.
    – Bart
    Nov 1, 2013 at 10:14

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
13

Upvotes, as much as we wish they did, do not always mean a question is of high-quality and suitable for the site. More often than not, it simply indicates popularity. And popularity is not a good indicator if something should be open or not.

And it's not as if we are without means to reopen a question. If a question is closed, it can be reopened by those who have the privilege to vote accordingly. Or you could come to Meta, clearly present your case, and see if the community (or perhaps even a mod) is willing to reopen it.

Improve this answer
4
  • "you could come to Meta, clearly present your case, and see if the community (or perhaps even a mod) is willing to reopen it." which i did.
    – Nils Lindemann
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:30
  • 2
    No, you made a feature request with a sample case. If all you want is to see that particular question reopened, make that clear. But it's unlikely to happen, for reasons already stated.
    – Bart
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:31
  • i made that clear (even used the word 'clearly'). Last Sentence of my Post.
    – Nils Lindemann
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:33
  • 8
    @Nils Then don't tag it [feature-request] and give it an appropriate title. As it stands, it's a feature request. And that's what I'm addressing.
    – Bart
    Nov 1, 2013 at 9:34

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