Strange suggestion: Mods should be required to view and consider search engine traffic when locking or deleting topics.
I've noticed lately that a Google search brings me to SO as the top result, but then the post itself is locked and marked off-topic or (the one I find more puzzling sometimes) "not a real question." If it's not a real question, why does it have a real answer which seems to answer my own question? Can't we just edit the question to make more sense, if it wasn't clear to the mod?
I'm not saying that locking or deleting posts isn't appropriate. But crippling or removing SO questions that appear high for particular search queries seems like a silly way to run a website, unless the question and answers really wouldn't be helpful to the incoming search traffic. (In which case, better to not show up at all than to appear but be unhelpful or incorrect.)
We do look at number of views and links to a post before deleting it. That's why a lot of questions that aren't really on-topic for Stack Overflow are simply locked instead of deleted. We're trying to clean up the site without breaking the rest of the Internet in the process.
> Can't we just edit the question to make more sense, if it wasn't clear to the mod?
Yes, of course. Anyone can suggest an edit to a question, whether it's open or closed. If you find a question and its answers helpful, go ahead and edit it. Flag it for a moderator to consider reopening when you're done.
Also, if you found a Stack Overflow question through a Google search, then it's not deleted. Deleted content isn't visible to search engines.
Comments
Strange suggestion: Mods should be required to view and consider search engine traffic when locking or deleting topics.
I've noticed lately that a Google search brings me to SO as the top result, but then the post itself is locked and marked off-topic or (the one I find more puzzling sometimes) "not a real question." If it's not a real question, why does it have a real answer which seems to answer my own question? Can't we just edit the question to make more sense, if it wasn't clear to the mod?
I'm not saying that locking or deleting posts isn't appropriate. But crippling or removing SO questions that appear high for particular search queries seems like a silly way to run a website, unless the question and answers really wouldn't be helpful to the incoming search traffic. (In which case, better to not show up at all than to appear but be unhelpful or incorrect.)
We do look at number of views and links to a post before deleting it. That's why a lot of questions that aren't really on-topic for Stack Overflow are simply locked instead of deleted. We're trying to clean up the site without breaking the rest of the Internet in the process.
> Can't we just edit the question to make more sense, if it wasn't clear to the mod?
Yes, of course. Anyone can suggest an edit to a question, whether it's open or closed. If you find a question and its answers helpful, go ahead and edit it. Flag it for a moderator to consider reopening when you're done.
Also, if you found a Stack Overflow question through a Google search, then it's not deleted. Deleted content isn't visible to search engines.