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Having recently followed https://musicfans.stackexchange.com/ through its commitment, private beta, and public beta phases, there have been a couple of schools of thought there on how quickly we should vote to close questions that seem a bit 'borderline'

  • One school of thought is the classic SE 'vote to close fast so that the question can be improved'

  • Another school of thought is that close-voting too fast can make the site a less friendly place, and that unless there's a clear problem with a question, we should be cautious about close-voting unless there's starting to be a problem with a certain type of question on the site.

What approach would we like to take?

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I'd like to suggest that we think twice before voting to close, and consider -

  • Is this question really causing a problem for the site in its current state?
  • Can I ask the asker to clarify or improve the question?
  • Can I edit to improve the question myself?
  • For questions that already have close votes : Am I really pressing 'close' due to my own opinion, or am I descending, vulture-like, on an already 'injured' question?

I feel that this site needs to become a friendly community to succeed, more so than some of the higher-traffic SE sites. I've been involved in a beta before where some people arguably got a bit over-excited about closing questions, and it killed the community feel there before the site had even got off the ground.

EDIT : While a brief, friendly comment suggesting an improvement will come across as more friendly than a close vote, a protracted comment battle won't. So : try suggesting an improvement first; if that doesn't work, feel free to downvote, close vote, flag, or bring it up with mods and other users in chat or meta - and let the community deal with it.

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    I agree with you. It will be a more prudent approach to wait and see how this site develops until it has a firm policy. It doesn't need to follow other sites.
    – user7
    Jun 22, 2016 at 0:43
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    On English Language Learners SE meta, I argued strongly against closing questions, and have never voted to close. People have gone to the trouble of finding the site and asking a question (on ELL, almost certainly in a second language). We should answer almost every question we possibly can, to the best of our ability (as well as explaining why people are voting to close it). The first question I have asked here has gathered three close votes, even though it's a genuine and long-held question with a definite answer somewhere. Some other users have attempted to give a actual answer.
    – Sydney
    Jun 27, 2016 at 3:16
  • @Rathony I'm sure it's possible to imagine improvements to the on hold/closed system, but for now it is what it is. The question you linked to is less than a day old - I haven't had a chance to look at it properly yet and other users may not have either - so the community may improve it, if indeed it needs improving.
    – Нет войне
    Oct 6, 2016 at 19:40
  • I got to go. I have to train. Nice talking to you. My focus is on quality of KSE. Nothing more, nothing less. Let's focus on quality. Good night.
    – user7
    Oct 6, 2016 at 19:56
  • @Rathony If I personally feel that a question needs improving, you'll likely find out, because I do frequently leave comments to that effect - because I also have an interest on the quality of KSE. have a safe journey.
    – Нет войне
    Oct 6, 2016 at 20:03

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