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The weird thing about SO is that it's not for answering questions asked by users. It's for pre-emptively answering questions that people might search for later.
by PhasmaFelis 9y ago
The weird thing about SO is that it's not for answering questions asked by users. It's for pre-emptively answering questions that people might search for later.
I know that sounds like a meaningless distinction, but questions can be (and often are) closed for being too specific. Like, "this question is well-researched and well-presented, but you're not allowed to ask it here because it's unlikely to come up for anyone else."
That's such a bafflingly bizarre attitude that I really don't know what else to say.
- Pulcinella 9y agoYes there definitely seems to be a very bizarre criteria for questions that I have never been able to parse. I often see questions closed as duplicates of another, when they are definitely not. As you said, I have come across exact questions that I have had, but they were closed three years ago as being too specific. Questions will be marked closed as being “too opinion based” when it’s a question like “why are singletons considered something that should be avoided? Can someone provide me an example of a situation in which using one would be bad?” I feel like the main goal of SO is to close questions without answering them unless someone sneaks in a good answer before it’s closed.