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I was viewing the list of questions and this one is at the top of the list:

How can I remain productive/increase my productivity while working rotating shifts?

When I clicked on it to see what was new, I noticed that the OP has recently been adding and removing the "work" tag, presumably to bump the conversation back to the top of the Questions list.

Is this appropriate?

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2 Answers 2

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No, it's not. Edits should be an improvement to the post. Minor edits (like alternating between adding/removing a tag) for the sole purpose of bumping the post are not appropriate.

To draw attention to an old, unanswered question (or a question that lacks a sufficient answer), there are two options:

  1. Offer a bounty.
  2. Make a meaningful edit to clarify the question or add more (relevant) information.

I've locked the post for now to prevent further edits.

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    You should remove the "work" tag, too :)
    – enderland
    Commented Jan 28, 2013 at 20:19
  • @enderland You're right. I should've done that (along with a couple other minor edits and a comment) before locking it. I'll take care of those now.
    – yoozer8 Mod
    Commented Jan 28, 2013 at 20:53
  • @Rarity and I blitzed all the other uses of work and got rid of them, but couldn't get it on that one :)
    – enderland
    Commented Jan 28, 2013 at 20:57
  • Must've barely missed it.
    – yoozer8 Mod
    Commented Jan 29, 2013 at 1:34
  • What about making it a Community Wiki instead of locking it? That was the original purpose of auto-CW after 15 edits - to prevent users from "bumping" repeatedly for more rep. Locking it stops all future interactions with the question, such as votes, comments, etc.
    – Rachel
    Commented Jan 29, 2013 at 17:00
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    @Rachel It will reach CW if edits continue once it is unlocked (temporary lock expiring in a few days). The lock is not permanent, just to allow it to come off the front page and attention to drift away. I've left a comment explaining the situation. My hope is that if Vicky wants to bump it for more attention, it will be through legitimate edits or a bounty.
    – yoozer8 Mod
    Commented Jan 29, 2013 at 17:09
  • @Jim Ok, I wasn't aware it was a temp lock that expires on its own :)
    – Rachel
    Commented Jan 29, 2013 at 17:27
  • @Rachel Yes. There is some (small) text within the lock message box saying when the lock expires.
    – yoozer8 Mod
    Commented Jan 29, 2013 at 17:32
  • @Jim I think that's only viewable by moderators - I wasn't able to see it when it was there
    – enderland
    Commented Feb 2, 2013 at 3:50
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Today we saw a series of old posts get bumped to the top when the tag "death" was added.

While we could debate if there is any value to that tag at all, it seems to me that solely adding a tag should not bump a question to the top.

Why does the system work that way?

Why not change it so that tag modification doesn't set the "modified" flag for a question (and thus the question doesn't get an undeserved bump and clutter the first page)?

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    Seriously, what is going on with all these death tags? Is someone just trying to get a badge?
    – David K
    Commented Apr 10, 2017 at 12:49
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    I think it bumps up to the first page so that it comes to people's attention, and if something is wrong, it can be dealt with. If this did not happen, it would expose the site to trolls who could change tags while no one is watching, and it would be a huge task to clean up the mess later on.
    – Masked Man
    Commented Apr 10, 2017 at 15:19
  • @MaskedMan - if that's the reason, it's a poor solution.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Commented Apr 10, 2017 at 16:37
  • @JoeStrazzere Yes, absolutely, I don't like it either. But it is what it is, and they are not likely to change it any time soon. :(
    – Masked Man
    Commented Apr 10, 2017 at 16:39
  • When i checked it came from the same user, if we assume well-intent, then i guess he searched for "death" on all title and add the tag to those post. Every edit made by the community bump question on the pages, bulked update made by developers when burninating a tag however don't. Guess that's a "deal with it"
    – Walfrat
    Commented Apr 13, 2017 at 12:19
  • @Walfrat - I understand how it happened and I don't blame the user. I disagree with the feature that allows it to happen that way. Oh well.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Commented Apr 13, 2017 at 12:20
  • Well as I said, as far as I know only bulk updates from developers won't triggee it and I doubt we can have that to add a tag to some questions, it never hurt to ask though.
    – Walfrat
    Commented Apr 13, 2017 at 12:25
  • @Walfrat - any feature can be modified. The way it works now doesn't have to be the way it works tomorrow.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Commented Apr 13, 2017 at 12:27
  • that's what meant "it never hurt to ask". Btw here is a SE post meta.stackexchange.com/questions/29394/…
    – Walfrat
    Commented Apr 13, 2017 at 12:30
  • @Walfrat - thanks. Seems clear that the "problem" has been known and no "solution" has ever been implemented. Oh well.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Commented Apr 13, 2017 at 12:31

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