Recently I have seen more questions that, while on-topic for the workplace, just don't seem particularly useful. Questions like Would it be rude to add this email disclaimer? and What can I say in place of “Thanks” at the bottom of an email when it doesn't make sense? are clearly about the workplace and are well written, but seem like trivial or common sense situations. The poster is obviously concerned or worried, but most people would probably say that they are overthinking things.
What do we do with these sorts of questions? Is down-voting appropriate? The guidelines for down-voting suggest that you should
Use your downvotes whenever you encounter an egregiously sloppy, no-effort-expended post, or an answer that is clearly and perhaps dangerously incorrect.
These questions have some effort and thought put into them, and questions can't inherently be incorrect (can they?).
Voting to close doesn't specifically apply to these types of questions either.
Questions should be closed by casting close votes if:
- they are sufficiently similar to existing questions and would be answered identically to them.
- they are unclear, too broad, or otherwise problematic to identifying the problem in a way that can be properly addressed by answerers
- they are sufficiently off-topic, as outlined in the help center.
These questions haven't been asked before, and they are certainly about the workplace. Maybe they could be considered unclear, but in most cases the question is easy to understand; it's just not always obvious that the problem is realy a problem.
So how should we handle these? Should they be down-voted or closed for being off-topic, or are these types of questions actually appropriate for the Workplace?
