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I have no idea why "a Specific answer" is getting upvoted so much, to the point that it is now the top answer. It does not provide a practical solution to the question but only offers a humorous intro followed by a video link.

It is only marginally better than two other answers from the same day which have been downvoted/deleted promptly.

In my mind, this answer should have been deleted. Why has this not been brought up already? Am I mistaken, and if so, what is the argument for keeping this answer?

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    -1 I highly dislike it when people use meta to try and get an post downvoted especially when its one post by a single user, it makes it feel extremely personal.
    – Charlie Brumbaugh
    Commented Mar 21, 2019 at 17:34
  • 3
    @CharlieBrumbaugh Why would it feel personal? I don't even have an answer in play on that question. And as you say, there is no reason why I would have something against the poster since it's his only answer on the site. It's just a genuinely bad answer in my mind that inexplicably got voted up. Please, if you think it's a valid answer, tell me why you think so because if I judge it against the guidelines, it doesn't pass the test.
    – Gabriel
    Commented Mar 21, 2019 at 17:44
  • 3
    There are multiple time where someone went after my edits or post on meta and it felt very personal. You might say I have personal experience with that.
    – Charlie Brumbaugh
    Commented Mar 21, 2019 at 19:00
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    It may not be a great answer but there is nothing wrong with it. Considering the number up-votes it has, clearly quite a few users found it helpful.
    – Skooba - Stands Against AI
    Commented Mar 21, 2019 at 19:26
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    @CharlieBrumbaugh - Since this meta was posted, I've had a half-dozen downvotes and my post has been vandalised..
    – Valorum
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 0:01
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    I have 100% idea why that answer is getting upvoted so much: Hot Network Question.
    – Andrew T.
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 10:00
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    @Valorum Two of those 6 downvotes predated this meta post (one was mine) and you have gained upvotes too since. This seems hardly out of the ordinary. I honestly have nothing against you, it's just that a humorous answer isn't usually held in a good light and I was surprised it gained so much traction.
    – Gabriel
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 13:39
  • 1
    @GabrielC. - Honestly I think this is an abuse of Meta. You're not supposed to use it just to try to round up a posse
    – Valorum
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 13:57
  • @GabrielC. I edited to remove the specific reference. You can't close it because it has answers.
    – James Jenkins
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 14:01
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    @JamesJenkins I was going to vote to close it. Was in the process of anonymizing it while you removed the link. :P
    – Gabriel
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 14:04
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    @GabrielC. I suggest leaving this meta post open, it may prove helpful to others, and others may want to post answers. Closing it will not make it go away, just prevents new answers. If it should be deleted completely (mod action) is another question, I really don't know which way I lean on deleting it. The seemingly most hurtful part has been edited out of the question, and there are answers from two perspectives that address both the specific question, and hurtful approach.
    – James Jenkins
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 14:13
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    Personally I lean towards you just made a poor judgment call in posting the meta question. We all do things might not have in hindsight. Lets learn from it.
    – James Jenkins
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 14:13
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    @JamesJenkins That's fine with me although the answers make it very obvious what question it is referring to. I wouldn't be suprised or upset if this was deleted entirely.
    – Gabriel
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 14:20
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    I completely don't understand why it needs anonymization and bringing this up on meta is perfectly fine. Votes on an answer that was clearly not constructive got out of hand due to HNQ, which is an issue. It might have been better to flag for mod attention and potentially ping a mod via chat, but meta is also a place for this. It's not personal if you call out issues with an answer and ask for clarification on that, just because that answer was posted by a person. If you'd called out the person posting the answer and attacked them personally, then that would have been problematic.
    – imsodin
    Commented Mar 24, 2019 at 14:10
  • @GabrielC. I'm glad you raised this. The post was a non-answer, HNQ was the only thing that drove its up votes, the user should know better (they have been around Stack Exchange for a loooong time) - they were being rude to editors.
    – Rory Alsop Mod
    Commented Apr 3, 2019 at 14:13

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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The answer has 44 upvotes and 6 down votes currently. Obviously not everyone agrees with your assessment of the quality of the answer.

TGO is a community of individuals, we are never all going to agree on somethings.

If you don't like a post give it a down vote. If most people in the community tend to agree with you that the post is not good, it will get a net negative vote, and the option to delete it comes up. If you have a enough rep you can vote to delete.

Even if it is deleted it is not really gone, and if some people like it they may vote to reopen it.

I tend to agree with Charlie's assement in the comments under your post, that you are striking out to voice your opposition to the community about a specific post where you disagree strongly with the community. It would have been very easy, for you post this exact same question without naming the specific post.

This is further addressed in Is editing the accepted answer with "This answer is incorrect. Please downvote it" allowed? as a member of the community you get one vote just like everyone else. If you don't agree with the community making bold attempts to sway votes is inappropriate.

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    I guess it is too late for that, but I agree I could have left the link and identity of the answer out of this post and it would have been better. It wasn't my intention to harm the answer to 'get my way'. I was not asking for it to be downvoted, nor deleted. I was simply asking why this one was getting upvoted when usually this type of humorous answer doesn't get upvoted much or even downvoted and/or deleted. Learned my lesson here, I guess.
    – Gabriel
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 13:50
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    And just a few seconds ago, I had to reject the second anonymous edit in a day trying to vandalise my answer.
    – Valorum
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 13:51
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    @Valorum it should slow or stop now that the meta question has been edited. As a community we try to stay together, but occasionally contributors feel attacked by our attempts to reach agreement. The open nature of the internet community makes this process more visible to new contributor. Please don't take it personally.
    – James Jenkins
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 14:19
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    @JamesJenkins - This meta apparently inspired a moderator to delete the answer entirely. They then suggested I accept one of the vandal edits that gutted the answer down to a single line with a video link.
    – Valorum
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 8:32
  • @Valorum you have the option of editing the answer, which can lead to it being re-opened.
    – James Jenkins
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 10:14
  • 2
    @JamesJenkins - Indeed. I have the choice of gutting the answer. I choose not to.
    – Valorum
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 10:15
  • Responded in the related chat chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/91418/…
    – James Jenkins
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 10:28
2

The post as it stands only answers the question in the final sentence - If I had spotted that it was on HNQ I would have immediately removed it/deleted it until the flurry was over. Votes on HNQ answers are really not indicative of a community.

@Valorum - I'd appreciate it if you edited the post to focus on the actual answer, not the titillating content you currently have.

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    Nah, I'll leave it deleted, thanks. The welcome wagon (including your good self) has made it clear that new users aren't welcome and I've better things to do with my life than muck around with this.
    – Valorum
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 17:50
  • Why was this one mod deleted and the dangerous one about garlic water for stomach impalement not? outdoors.stackexchange.com/a/17462/8794
    – Charlie Brumbaugh
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 17:56
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    @CharlieBrumbaugh - Mysterious and capricious are the ways of moderators. Much like the samurai of old.
    – Valorum
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 18:03
  • @CharlieBrumbaugh which one? Has it been deleted in the meantime?
    – henning no longer feeds AI
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 19:01
  • @henning Took a year and half but yes the community eventually deleted it
    – Charlie Brumbaugh
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 19:02
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    Interestingly, @Valorum, we really do welcome new folks. We aren't so welcoming to those who are rude, aggressive, or who fail to resurrect the general Be Nice rule.
    – Rory Alsop Mod
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 13:53
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    @RoryAlsop - I haven't felt especially welcomed. And you're not really helping in that regard.
    – Valorum
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 14:14
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    If you'd follow the Be Nice rule, you would be welcomed. Your response to people in the community trying to help you was not appropriate. They were editing to try and help improve your post and you were rude to them.
    – Rory Alsop Mod
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 16:59
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Did you look at the tomato-slicing video at the bottom of the answer? Even if the many, many upvotes came because of the first part of the answer, the video validated the answer, made it worth keeping, and elevated it far above the two deleted answers.

The OP asked for a simple test, and the answer provided a simple, inexpensive test with a video demonstrating the test. The only hard part for most of the year would be finding a ripe tomato; slicing a supermarket tomato would prove little.

In response to the comment of @Gabriel C:

Yes, but then if you get rid of the useless paragraph and image, the answer becomes a one-line answer based on an outside link video, which again isn't what is usually considered a good answer.

Several of the answers provided less evidence than the helpful video. If this answer is to be deleted, those should be also. Moreover, I'd rather test the knife on a ripe tomato and keep the knife away from my hair, or a finger, or even a fingernail. Actually, the video proved to me that I don't want that knife in my kitchen -- too sharp!

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    Yes, but then if you get rid of the useless paragraph and image, the answer becomes a one-line answer based on an outside link video, which again isn't what is usually considered a good answer.
    – Gabriel
    Commented Mar 21, 2019 at 19:08
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    @GabrielC. why didn't you suggest the answerer to add references/expand the details to the tomato-slicing instead of choosing to straightly delete the answer?
    – Andrew T.
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 10:04
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    @AndrewT. Because there were already answers that explained the tomato test before that answer was posted.
    – Gabriel
    Commented Mar 22, 2019 at 13:15
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    And the poster is not willing to edit their post anyway.
    – Rory Alsop Mod
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 13:52

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