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Let's suppose I ask a question which is badly received (despite going through the Tour and the Help Center, as well as asking on Meta whether or not my question has its place on the main site). Is it authorised to ask for feedbacks on Meta about that specific question?

I don't expect to get feedbacks from the people who downvoted. I just want to get general feedbacks about what's wrong, so I can avoid doing the same mistakes again.

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Nothing wrong with asking for feedback on Meta IMO.. however you'll often get a quicker/more interactive process by popping into chat and asking there. There's usually a few site regulars kicking around in there and we don't bite.

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  • I oftenly forget that there's a chat on every SE websites.
    – Clockwork
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 14:40
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    You'll likely get more eyes on your feedback question in Meta than in Chat.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 14:41
  • @JoeStrazzere The question now has a positive vote rating. I don't know if it's relevant to open a question anymore... (though I still feel like a feedback could help).
    – Clockwork
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 15:48
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    @Clockwork - you did the right thing by adding a comment asking for feedback. But most folks who downvote won't comment why.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 15:54
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    @JoeStrazzere I don't think a comment asking for an explanation of a downvote typically accomplishes that goal. On the contrary, it might discourage people from providing an explanation, and it might draw more downvotes. Is it now discouraged to ask for reasons for downvotes as a comment?
    – Bernhard Barker
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 21:37
  • @Dukeling - I suppose anything is possible. IMHO, the simplest thing to do is just to ask.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Commented Nov 20, 2018 at 21:43
  • @Dukeling What I find sad is how some people jump to conclusion or generalise a "few" cases into all "newbies" (mostly on Stackoverflow). On some occasions, I had the feeling a few veterans (or even moderators) were more worried about not being harassed than taking the risk (and possibly teaching a new guy what's right and wrong).
    – Clockwork
    Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 8:10
  • In fact has already happened quite a lot in meta, and question asking "what I did wrong" are generally well received (upvotes on the meta post) by the community.
    – Walfrat
    Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 8:16
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    @Clockwork In my experience, getting a positive response to a comment providing feedback is very, very unlikely (at least on Stack Overflow - it's better on The Workplace). I know there are people who will respond positively, but having to deal with all the other cases to get to them just makes it not worth it.
    – Bernhard Barker
    Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 8:22
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    @JoeStrazzere Speaking for myself, I tend to delete "Why the downvote?" comments on sight as noise. Asking "how can I improve this?" is a good comment but the others are hardly ever useful and very often indicate an OP who's unlikely to be receptive to constructive feedback. So like you said actually asking for feedback is always a good idea.
    – Lilienthal Mod
    Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 8:40
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    @Lilienthal - well, you are a moderator so I guess you can delete comments for whatever reason you like.
    – Joe Strazzere
    Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 12:18
  • There was nothing wrong with your original question. Some people just downvote for no rational reason whatsoever. Don't worry about it. Points aren't real. You got some thoughtful responses and THAT is what is important.
    – teego1967
    Commented Nov 21, 2018 at 18:26
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Of course!

Making a meta post is a great way of getting feedback from the broader (meta) community regarding any potential problems with your post. Obviously, things like spelling and grammar and factual mistakes (if any) can be pointed out in the comments of the post itself or fixed directly - but more substantive problems with the post, such as its topicality or its penchant for collecting bad answers, might be better suited to a discussion in meta.

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