up vote -6 down vote favorite

In the same way that questions which are obviously homework get tagged , should questions which are obviously attempts to get someone else to do the questioner's job for them be tagged ?

I'm not even sure whether I'm joking or not... with a decent tag wiki entry it might even become a useful user education tool.

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I think liberal application of -1 on these sorts of questions should work nearly as well. Down votes on questions are "free" (as in reputation-flavored-beer) so there is no loss incurred. – jscott Jul 19 '11 at 21:35
Oh man, I've only just gotten out of my "stupid question, downvote" reflex, since I thought it was costing me rep. If it isn't, on the other hand... – womble Jul 19 '11 at 21:37
@womble downvotes on questions are free, answers still cost you 1 rep however. – Ben Pilbrow Jul 19 '11 at 21:41
What's a few rep on downvotes to the #7 overall ranking user anyway :P – Ben Pilbrow Jul 19 '11 at 21:41
@womble Yup, they're free now. – jscott Jul 19 '11 at 21:43
@Ben: I have a, shall we say, significant downvote rate from my last stint here. I'm much less critical of rampant stupidity these days, though. – womble Jul 19 '11 at 21:43
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Maybe I'm just odd but if I feel a question or answer deserves a downvote I give it one and really couldn't care less if it costs me one miserable point of rep. Seriously, is there any regular that can't afford to lose a point or two from time to time? – John Gardeniers Jul 19 '11 at 22:47
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WE NEEDS IT ALL, MY PRECIOUS! – womble Jul 19 '11 at 22:49
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1 Answer

up vote 6 down vote

I say no. Tags are a means of categorising questions, and in my opinion this isn't helping anybody find the questions they're looking for.

Edit: I'd actually go as far to say that and are probably both meta tags and shouldn't be used as per The Death of Meta Tags.

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This tag would categorise questions that people might not want to answer because they're huge, ill-defined, etc etc, which then helps them find the questions they want to answer quicker. Is the 'homework' tag a means of categorising questions that helps people find the questions they're looking for? – womble Jul 19 '11 at 19:57
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Obvious homework questions usually get closed as off topic quite quickly, I'm surprised that the homework tag still exists. – Iain♦ Jul 19 '11 at 20:01
@Iain I don't suspect it will for long. :) womble appears to be actively working to change that. – jscott Jul 19 '11 at 21:26
Indeed I am. All done now. – womble Jul 19 '11 at 21:33
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