This question is objectively opinion based but isn't being flagged due to it's easy to answer nature

Question

The question in topic is If or How to answer compliments from boss at work and what I will say is that I will probably flag this as primarily opinion based as well.. It is. As per the question it asks you when flagging:

Many good questions generate some degree of opinion based on expert experience, but answers to this question will tend to be almost entirely based on opinions, rather than facts, references, or specific expertise.

I do however feel this question has been left open and edited slightly without it being closed and is now just seeking more low quality easy answers for karma. I feel like this question by now should of had something done about it, I don't want to point fingers but it feels like people overlook this when they think free reputation is available.

---

To clarify further on why I opened this up on meta is that over the last couple of days that I've been giving this exchange a go and seeing if I enjoy answering questions here it seems a lot of questions as a whole are low quality. Though if people jump onto the question it seemingly isn't being closed for the right reasons? Why is this? Shouldn't we as a community be closing these questions that aren't likely to go anywhere?

---

Furthermore editing said question to include a question again isn't helping this thread become a higher quality. "What is an appropriate way to respond when my boss compliments me over text at work?" Again this is just so subjective I could answer saying profanity and I'd at least be somewhat right? I feel like this question and the changes don't bring this up to the quality that this exchange has..

---

Further clarification:

In response: A good example might be sending a thumbs up emoji on its own. Am I a better or worse person for sending that over thank you? vs the many other ways I could respond. This is just so subjective to where you work and who you work with.

The above is a good example of how this is just deeply opinon based and while 'thank you' is a great general answer it's just not a good question that should of been put on hold or closed while it came up with a better question overall.

Answer 1

over the last couple of days that I've been giving this exchange a go and seeing if I enjoy answering questions here

It sounds like you're new around here, so welcome!. The Workplace is a little different than most of the Stack Exchange network in that almost all of our questions inherently are slightly opinion-based. There isn't always one right way to respond to a situation, especially for questions that ask how to respond, or how to phrase something. This is why we have a Back it Up Rule.

Please note that answers should be backed up either with a reference, or experiences that happened to you personally. You should always include in your answer information about why you think your answer is correct.

I've certainly left comments on one-line answers before explaining this, pointing out that another user could say the exact opposite thing with no explanation and we wouldn't know which is correct. I'll admit that Joe's answer on this question is pretty short, but I would also say that this is a pretty simple situation. His explanation of "You're overthinking this" is enough for me, especially when you pair that with the voting.

But all of this is about the quality of answers, not about on-topicness for questions, which is what you've asked about. If you look at our list of acceptable topics, included is "communication problems" and "holding hard conversations" and I would add generally professionalism and etiquette, which I would say this falls under. You might think that this isn't a difficult conversation, but obviously the OP and not everyone who visits will think so.

The types of opinion-based questions we are trying to avoid are those that are completely subjective. Questions like "What color is the most soothing for an office?" or "Which job should I take?" or "Is it better live in the city or live outside and commute in?". The "correct" answers for those are going to be different for every person, and so we can't really give good advice here.

So to summarize, everything you find here is going to have some element of opinion in it, but as long as you can provide answers that you can back up with experience or reasoning, it should be okay.

Answer 2

I think you're taking opinion a little too literal and not considering professional opinions that have some basis in work place experience.

Part of an answer may involve going through a process to determine the best course of action instead of an explicit, "Do it exactly this way." Relationships with people can be complex. One day the boss may lose his temper and snap back, "Stop sending me a F*%!9g thank you text 10 time a day!"

There's probably some matter of opinion in every question on this site compared to Stackoverflow or other technical sites. Experienced professionals develop rules of thumb as a guide or a framework for navigating the workplace and not a perfect map.

Personally, I answer a question based on whether or not I can help this person and those in similar situations. I've closed my fair share of questions to help monitor the site. Getting points is very secondary.

My answer received a negative vote. That doesn't change a thing.