Defending questions against abusive closes/migrations

Question

The SE system is probably the best on the internet for connecting questions with those with the expertise to answer them, allowing all of us in the community to learn and share together. I wish it had been around decades earlier, and I use the site almost daily.

But lately, I've noticed a lot of questions that are fairly on topic being attacked by aggressive users who just don't like the question. Unfortunately, searching for closed questions isn't exactly made easy by the SE search system, so I'm a bit limited as far as examples go, but I'll do my best to explain.

On Physics SE for example, ask basically any question in theoretical physics without at least 50 published papers on the subject and you're bound to be quickly swarmed by moderators and users alike who rant that any model of physics that hasn't been definitively proven with experimental evidence is unanswerable and therefore doesn't belong on Physics SE. Which is slightly mental considering that our entire understanding of physics is based on unconfirmed conjecture that seems to fit the experimental evidence. That's the definition of theoretical physics.

The question which inspired this meta was originally asked in Electronics SE. We've all heard of external defibrillators, those things in the hospital that shock your chest to restore normal heart beat. But how do they work, and more specifically, are they only capable of a one-off shock and done, or could a user if he/she wanted to shock someone in a sustained, continuous shock? The question seems simple enough, but within minutes of asking the question I had people arguing that the question is unclear, which is fair enough considering "continuous" can mean something different in the context of electronics, so I edited the question to clarify, and still now-determined users began to pester regarding the purpose and context of the question, which seems rather straightforward.

I mentioned in chat that the question about how defibrillators work was partially inspired by a scene in the show Dexter wherein two people are electrocuted by sustained shocks from a defibrillator. Maybe an hour later, I came back to find my question rephrased into a question about the TV show and migrated here on Movies SE (link preserved with Web Archive to protect against future changes to the question). I explained to a Movies SE user involved in the migration that the question had nothing to do with the TV show, I simply used the show as an example, and he kindly apologized and offered to have it migrated back when another mod could be found.

All the while I was stuck watching my simple, electronics-related question being tinkered and toyed with and eventually moved to an SE site about movies. While I'm sure everyone had their best intentions at heart, it seems our community of information sharing has evolved into a superiority contest where the high-reputation hold the low-reputation at their mercy. It's a lot like politics actually.

In situations like these, is there any recourse for the asker? How do you respond when your question is hijacked by people who just don't like the question?

Answer 1

At the end of the day, the community is the best defense.

I've found the best way to handle question closures has always been to evaluate the close reasons, try to find a compromise - improving the question, then bringing it to the community in a local meta post.

In every case a successful un-closure needed the user to make a case within the rules, listening to constructive criticism and convince enough users it should be reopened.

While a mod can reopen it, in a sense, its much better that the community undoes a community decision.

I've also found sometimes, depending on the community, popping in talking on chat about the question helps.

I mentioned in chat that the question about how defibrillators work was partially inspired by a scene in the show Dexter wherein two people are electrocuted by sustained shocks from a defibrillat

Chat transcript might be useful here for context.

The original question, even with the changes wasn't in their scope up even with all your edits

We feel the best Electronics Design questions have a schematic, links to pertinent datasheets or some source code in them, but if your question generally covers …

• a specific electronics design problem
• the theory and simulation of electromagnetic forces
• a communication scheme
• the writing of firmware for bare-metal or RTOS applications

Doesn't quite fit in their scope. Not to mention, this isn't exactly a 'real practical problem'

While I'm sure everyone had their best intentions at heart, it seems our community of information sharing has evolved into a superiority contest where the high-reputation hold the low-reputation at their mercy. It's a lot like politics actually.

That's pretty unfair to those involved. The alternative would be to simply close it. Someone tried their best. I for one would have closed a similar off scope question anywhere I have closevote rights.

Answer 2

I'm far from any kind of authority on this topic. But I can speak from experience in regards to the tags in which I have gold badges.

I'm very active in answering pandas questions on Stack Overflow, and I enjoy it quite a bit. I care about contributing to a healthy pandas community in order to grow an informed user base. I've been granted privileges to close duplicates due to my pandas score and I take that privilege seriously. I want to do the right thing. I try to close down duplicate questions when I see them.

However, despite my best intentions, I get it wrong sometimes. I do my best to correct the mistake or make up for it somehow. But my point is, mistakes happen. It just so happens that it's those with the reputation points that have the privileges that enable them to make those mistakes.

---

In regards to your specific issue, I'd say three things:

1. I'm sorry that happened to you. I can understand how that might be frustrating. I hope a moderator can set it straight.

2. Please be patient. Most people really are just trying to do the right thing for a community in which they've invested time, energy, and passion. We are all people and we make mistakes and we disagree. Give it time to sort out.

3. You could just ask another question.

---

Anyway, my two cents. I hope it works out.