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I posted a question a while ago, and it suddenly disappeared. After finding a link to the page, I saw the following message:

Your question was removed from Super User for reasons of moderation. Please refer to the FAQ for possible explanations why your question might have been removed.

  1. Why didn't I get a message informing me of that decision? Who is responsible for it? When you remove content from a legitimate user, the least you can do is inform him of that decision and the reasons that prompted it.
  2. "Reasons of moderation" is not a reason. My question was completely innocent, and I'd really want to know why it was removed. I shouldn't have to try to guess from the FAQ.

Frankly, this website is great, but this kind of things really tarnish the user experience.

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    Note that I would still be interested in answers to my question. So if a good soul with administrative powers wants to restore it, I'd be thankful.
    – Peltier
    Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 18:19
  • I closed it because it was very open-ended, not a real question, vague, and subjective/argumentative.
    – studiohack Mod
    Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 19:17
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    Thanks for the answer. I agree it's open-ended, I don't agree it's not a question. Anyways, I'm not discussing your decision. I just think it would be fair to warn users when this happens.
    – Peltier
    Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 19:21
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    @Peltier: typically we don't delete right after a close, but I felt that this one didn't need to stick around, nothing personal...
    – studiohack Mod
    Commented Apr 21, 2011 at 19:32
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    @Peltier, you might want to check out this thread on Meta.SO about "question was deleted" messages. If you think there should be a user notification when a post gets deleted, you can propose it on Meta.SO (since this would be a network-wide feature request). Generally, if users have questions about why their post was deleted, they can ask us on Meta like you did, or inquire in the Ask a Moderator chat room.
    – nhinkle Mod
    Commented Apr 22, 2011 at 4:01
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    IMHO, SO sites are great, moving, closing, and deleting questions is necessary, but the way it's done is terrible. There should be at least some area where boundary cases get moved to. Especially, this question about the CPU future is interesting and could be answered by a CPU engineer in a non-speculative way -- they have future plans at Intel/AMD, don't they?
    – maaartinus
    Commented Apr 24, 2011 at 13:34
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    @maaartinus: don't worry, I moved my question to a site where people are more open-minded, and it did indeed result in great discussion.
    – Peltier
    Commented Apr 26, 2011 at 8:25
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    @Peltier: Thx for the link, the discussion at reddit is quite good.
    – maaartinus
    Commented Apr 26, 2011 at 11:37
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    Rollbacked Jeff Attwood's changes, because I feel that 1) deleting user content (not hiding it from the site, but actually removing it even for the user), and 2) not even warning him about it is a serious bug.
    – Peltier
    Commented Apr 26, 2011 at 17:06
  • Then it should be a feature-request, because its like this by design. I can already tell you the answer: [status-declined], so while you're free to raise your 'concerns', it won't change a thing.
    – Ivo Flipse Mod
    Commented Apr 26, 2011 at 18:17
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    Stack Exchange IS great because of the mods. Spend an hour or two refreshing the page constantly the volume of spam and nonsense questions is amazing. They keep this site clear and concise, it is a Q&A site not a discussion site. I don't understand why this concept escapes so many people... Honestly if I'm trying to solve a problem the last thing I want to deal with is pages of discussions speculating about nonsense like how powerful cpus will be in five years. grow up there is a time and a place for everything this is NOT the place for discussions, just drop it and move on...
    – Supercereal
    Commented Apr 26, 2011 at 20:21
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    Agreed to disagree... you did earn some points in my book though I was definitely expecting a nasty reply, thanks for being mature about it.
    – Supercereal
    Commented Apr 26, 2011 at 20:47
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    On an unrelated note, you can't see what is deleted, because you don't have sufficient rep. The sites don't work automagically, especially not on one with such high Google traffic as Super User. But even so, the signal to noise ratio is this high because it's kept in order, not the other way around. Yet you're free to disagree
    – Ivo Flipse Mod
    Commented Apr 26, 2011 at 21:29
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    And that's just your opinion, which also doesn't make it right. I simply don't care about this problem enough to argue with Jeff about it, but feel free to give it a try.
    – Ivo Flipse Mod
    Commented Apr 27, 2011 at 11:12
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    Well, my opinion, and the opinion of pretty much everyone else according to the votes on the answer you linked to.
    – Peltier
    Commented Apr 28, 2011 at 13:38

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Your question for those in the gallery:

How powerful do you expect CPUs to be in five years?

How powerful do you expect CPUs to be in five years, compared to say, an i5 2500 from nowadays? Do you think they could be an order of magnitude faster? In what direction are cpu vendors moving?

Is speculative, argumentative, wide-ranging and fodder for discussion.

As such it was closed as subjective and/or argumentative.

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    @random, this doesn't really answer the OP's question, "Why didn't I get a message informing me of that decision?"
    – user11574
    Commented Apr 22, 2011 at 0:31
  • @sampa the 404 page contains the explanation, see above .. the why is in like the first 3 paragraphs of the /faq under What kind of questions should I not ask here?
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Apr 22, 2011 at 20:46
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    @Jeff, so you're saying it's better to blow poorly-parked cars to pieces and skedaddle than to leave parking tickets on their windshields? Even if some members of the community think those cars are parked well enough? To mix my metaphors: Singapore bubble gum approach, sort of thing?
    – user11574
    Commented Apr 22, 2011 at 21:22
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    @sampa broken windows should be left broken with little signs saying "please fix?" No thanks. In this case the question was radically off topic and got culled. Less radically off topic Qs will have close notices with more detail.
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Apr 22, 2011 at 22:35
  • @Jeff, your analogy presupposes the existence of formerly unbroken windows that have been vandalised (i.e. suitable questions people have come along & damaged) which isn't what's happened here. It also demonstrates a rather disdainful attitude to your community members. In many cases I'm sure they'd indeed re-park their cars (or fix their windows, if you prefer). And they'd all be much happier members for being given the opportunity to do that with guidance, instead of swift punishment leaving them with little idea if there's anywhere in the SE network their question would have been safe.
    – user11574
    Commented Apr 23, 2011 at 1:32
  • @sampa that's fine with me; defending signal to noise takes strong community members who understand why lines are drawn. I will pay people to leave if necessary. blogs.hbr.org/taylor/2008/05/why_zappos_pays_new_employees.html
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Apr 23, 2011 at 3:39
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    @Jeff, you seem to be missing the points that (a) not everyone agrees what constitutes "noise", (b) some things that mods on one SE site might count as noise might be considered signal on another SE site, or even on the same site, suitably edited, & (c) it may well be worth allowing a small, temporary increase in noise for a much larger increase in user happiness. The article praises the fact Zappos has "smart and entertaining … employees [who] are free to do whatever it takes to make you happy. There are no scripts, no time limits … no robotic behavior…" yet you seem to want the opposite.
    – user11574
    Commented Apr 23, 2011 at 4:34
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    @sampa the above question is not even remotely on topic as defined in the first 3 or 4 paragraphs of the /faq. It is wildly off-topic. Not just a little -- a lot. If you demand happiness, might I suggest many of the other millions of websites on the internet which may be more to your liking?
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Apr 23, 2011 at 4:52
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    [Imagines Zappos as run by @Jeff: "Oh, you want advice about brogues? Yeah, we might have someone here who could help, but you've come through to the wrong department, so I suggest you try another retailer. Bye! What? No, I will not transfer you to the right department. (Hangs up.)"]
    – user11574
    Commented Apr 23, 2011 at 5:02
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    @sampa well, the more apt analogy is that we're in a store OVERRUN with customers, and certain customers are asking us "are these shoes? do I put them on my feet? what do these rubber things on the bottom do?" Naturally, we'd prefer our moderators (and even fellow users, for that matter) spend time with the thousands of customers already waiting in line who understand how shoes work.
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Apr 23, 2011 at 5:16
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    @Jeff, I don't think that's apt at all. In many of the cases that you or other mods seem to regard as "noise", the user has a reasonable understanding of their question & the sort of answers they'd like. They know how shoes work, in other words; they just don't understand your system for selling shoes. And if they get into the wrong queues or try on shoes without asking first, or whatever, because of that unfamiliarity, they often receive censure rather than help. SE is great when it works, but the rest of the time it has an air of menace. Please listen to the affected users, & brighten up! :)
    – user11574
    Commented Apr 23, 2011 at 5:26
  • @Jeff, do you think it's possible that the tension is resulting from conflicting aims on your side: one the one hand, the desire to create a boutique (or set of boutiques) in which people either share a similar fashion sense or are shunned; and on the other hand, the desire to create a destination with mass-market appeal and the diversity in approach that this implies?
    – user11574
    Commented Apr 23, 2011 at 5:48
  • So if we are to continue answering "why was this flagged" on Meta, we need meta posts for each flag curiosity and mods will be even more overworked?
    – nanofarad
    Commented Jun 25, 2012 at 0:13

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