Question about Questions
- I wonder why so many duplicate questions make it to be triaged by humans on Stack Exchange in certain communities so frequently in the unanswered queues?
- Let me be clear about "triage", I'm talking about the "babysitters" of the communities; they know who they are and I'm not referring to any moderators!! No finger-pointing allowed as they will point their own finger (the middle one for some) right back to themselves.
It's like the showdown to see who can find the quickest duplicate question and\or correlated answer on SE with a quick Google search, internal SE search, or some hook or funnel into the backend perhaps, etc. finding and posting hyperlinks in comments (and answers sometimes).
- If the title field auto-populate feature, or the similar question auto-populate feature when creating a new question, doesn't list something relevant and sufficient for you, then why do so many "people" always refer to "potential" duplicate with a hyperlink?
- I can probably answer this myself and state that most people just assume the OP didn't look at (or is "stupid" as in "Boooo" -1 for you) the obvious answer or Q&A post with great detail, etc... +1 to me, right on bro!!
Is there a Solution (my suggestion as well (the question))
It seems a bit deficient, when people focus attention on finding (or having to post) "potential" duplicate questions and/or answers rather than concentrating on the "greatest" answer they could give.
If it's an obvious duplicate, then why not force the OP to say "no this Q&A does NOT help me with this question" so please allow it to be posted for others to advise or assist???
Could there be logic or some type of flow implemented that enforces the option as indicated in the above paragraph (i.e. "why not force the OP to say")?
The answerer\replier should feel confident that the OP already saw the most "obvious" and "already answered and accepted" answer(s) specifically checking that it didn't help (and perhaps a little flag or something to indicate if they tick it as (this post or Q&A) NOT helpful).
I'm understanding
Yes, I'm very understanding and some slipping through the cracks seems reasonable, so even if it helps 1 out of 5 or something, it'd potentially. . .
cut down on people asking questions from having to wait for someone to tell you "possible duplicate" look "here", and force the person to acknowledge at least that the top 2-3 similar posts that auto-populated were not helpful in their particular instance
cut down potential duplicates from even hitting the unanswered queues
be helpful in getting more upvotes on great "answers" (and questions) in similar posts that already exist giving even more incentive for great answers to everyone
My Expectation
I will expect to get some "great" answers here on this question and all deserving will get my upvote but I'm looking for the "greatest" feedback of them all that can be given so please don't hesitate to put your answer on here regardless as I plan to look over them all with great detail!!