This is not the first time this has been discussed. "Why so mean?"

The answer always turns out to be the same: The influx of crap is too high. We know the answer to this question.

Now, let's rather discuss how to build tools to manage the "crap stream" more efficiently. We will not find a perfect solution but we'll be able to mitigate the problem partially.

Here are some ideas:

1. Reduce the vote-to-close count from 5 to 3.
2. Detect questions likely to be closed using Bayes machine learning and reduce the close barrier further to just 2 close votes.
3. A/B test multiple text messages for educating askers before they ask. Determine which one is best.
4. Remove questions from the main stream with just 1 downvote. This prevents questions from annoying too many people.
5. Reinstate the close reason "lack of minimal understanding". It might not be pristine but it addresses the bigger problem: Closing off crap.
6. Make closing as duplicate less time consuming. At the moment I personally never bother to find a duplicate although it must clearly exist.

With these ideas I just want to show that it is possible to mitigate the crap problem partially. I do not endorse any specific idea from this list. That's not the point.

This is not the first time this has been discussed. "Why so mean?"

The answer always turns out to be the same: The influx of crap is too high. We know the answer to this question.

Now, let's rather discuss how to build tools to manage the "crap stream" more efficiently. We will not find a perfect solution but we'll be able to mitigate the problem partially.

Here are some ideas:

1. Reduce the vote-to-close count from 5 to 3. In my experience, almost all questions reaching 3 votes also reach 5 eventually. Reduce the burden and close faster.
2. Detect questions likely to be closed using Bayes machine learning and reduce the close barrier further to just 2 close votes.
3. A/B test multiple text messages for educating askers before they ask. Determine which one is best.
4. Reinstate the close reason "lack of minimal understanding". It might not be pristine but it addresses the bigger problem: Closing off crap.
5. Make closing as duplicate less time consuming. At the moment I personally never bother to find a duplicate although it must clearly exist.

With these ideas I just want to show that it is possible to mitigate the crap problem partially. I do not endorse any specific idea from this list. That's not the point.