I think that list questions are very bad, since they contribute nothing to the OP (a list of names is actually nothing if their story isn't included) and many of the questions already are list questions. I believe people should vote to close them already instead of answering them, which could attract many bad question and lower the value of this proposal. Is this too harsh?
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(I just asked a similar question, but I deleted it because your question covers the same things)– user62Commented Apr 28, 2015 at 19:13
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I have written a dissenting answer please take the time to read it.– JamesCommented Apr 29, 2015 at 14:21
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Additionally it is not for us to decide what is and is not useful to someone asking a question...if they ask a question, presumably it is because they want an answer to THAT question.– JamesCommented Apr 29, 2015 at 19:28
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possible duplicate of What is this site's line on "List Questions"– user62Commented Jun 2, 2015 at 0:38
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This was the first asked question about list questions.– codingEnthusiastCommented Jun 2, 2015 at 7:40
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4 Answers
It is for the reasons you already mentioned that list questions are off-topic on most Stack Exchange sites.
People answer them because it's relatively easy. It's tempting - you see a question and think, "I can answer that!" And I guess points, badges and the fulfilment of our commitment also plays a role.
I don't want to rule out list questions completely, but as a rule of thumb, we should flag / vote-to-close them.
answered Apr 28, 2015 at 19:19
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1Yes, exactly and it's usually an easy copy-paste from some other website like wikipedia. Commented Apr 28, 2015 at 19:20
Ok...we have been having this discussion over on the World-Building site.
Lists are not inherently bad
The original post that started the lists are bad phenomenon was related to shopping lists.
Reference 1: Why are "shopping list" questions bad?
Reference 2: http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/11/qa-is-hard-lets-go-shopping/
- As discussed above a list is not of value if the answer will change or become out of date (which lets face it, Mythology is not exactly a high change of content topic)
- Answers are not comparable by objective means or are opinion based
"How many human children did Zeus have and who were they?"
- This on the other hand is a question that could certainly be answered in a list format as lists are a good way to organize information and make it easy to digest.
- It also has a real answer that can be compared for completeness and accuracy against other answers and is thus rate-able.
TL:DR: Do not simply scream IT'S A LIST!!!! Take the time to actually read the question and see if it can be answered as is or help improve the question.
List != auto-close
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Take a look at this question: mythology.stackexchange.com/questions/197/… This question has had no downvotes and noone mentioned anything negative about it. And I agree with that. It's a precise question, which has a background as to why the OP would have that sort of curiosity. The question itself demands a list answer, too. That proves that I agree with the List != auto-close you are concluding to. Commented Apr 29, 2015 at 22:54
People answer list questions because:
- it's easy. anyone can come up with a list
- those questions attract attention, so more chance to get upvotes
- people like lists, making them and reading them
- even if some items are rubbish, the right answer might accidentally be there
- list are a quick way to present things without having to provide too much detail
- repetition isn't too easily detected (my list is different!)
- people like lists
I think that answering list questions is fine and adds value to the site. The approach I always suggest when I see a "list question" or a question that is most likely answerable by list format is to create a "community wiki" answer.
There users can contribute with whatever they can (one or several items to The List). The is no problem about one answer being "incomplete" or more complete than others, because there would be only one CW answer.
