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There are already a lot of questions here on Meta about users deleting their questions promptly after getting an answer. It happened to me twice this weekend. (I even thought they were the same user, because it was on the same day and the topic was the same: metric spaces. In the end, it was two different users. I was surprised though to discover that they were not new users at all, both with about 1k rep).

Anyway, I was told in this comment to flag any post of mine (I couldn't flag the original question or answer, because the whole page was unavailable) for moderator attention, and explain it, which I did, and both questions were undeleted rapidly.

However, one of the users deleted the same question again. I haven't found anywhere, in any of the several questions I linked above, what I should do in such a situation.

I understand that users should have the right to delete their own posts, unless doing so would also delete content that's helpful to the community. I also understand that I'm not the one who should decide whether my answer is helpful of not (after all, it had no upvotes, and that's why the user was able to re-delete it). But still I'm not comfortable with just letting this be.

In the end, I would like a recommendation about what to do upon (re)deletion of questions with an answer of mine. Should I keep flagging forever until the user stops deleting it? Is it better to post this kind of request in the "requests for reopen and undeletion" thread? Should I leave him (and the moderators) alone if he insists in deleting his post?

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    $\begingroup$ This could be the same person who created two different accounts. $\endgroup$
    – Moishe Kohan
    Jan 5, 2015 at 6:03
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    $\begingroup$ So, the question was undeleted again. Turns out I had mede it up about the user being 7k, I don't know where I got it from. Anyway, my question still holds. What do I do? Certainly not make a post on Meta every time it happens. $\endgroup$
    – fonini
    Jan 5, 2015 at 12:47
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    $\begingroup$ @fonini: I do not have good suggestions, but the very least thing you can do is to never answer any questions by these two users. $\endgroup$
    – Moishe Kohan
    Jan 5, 2015 at 20:32
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    $\begingroup$ I was wrong: a post owner can delete with one click, regardless of the previous undeletion events. Unless the post is locked, or it's a question with an upvoted answer or with more than one answer. $\endgroup$
    – user147263
    Jan 5, 2015 at 21:00
  • $\begingroup$ If the mod undeleting the post upvoted an answer to it, it ought to prevent re-deletion by author. That might be advisable (for the mod, not you). (For you, I'd think that flagging again, and noting that you flagged previously would be a good response; then the mods can at least know that the user is acting poorly - i.e. it's not just a one-time thing. If the mods agreed once, it's probably not bothering them to point out they someone is still being wrong on the internet) $\endgroup$
    – Milo Brandt
    Jan 6, 2015 at 2:12
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    $\begingroup$ I don't think people (not even mods) should feel oblidged to upvote just to prevent vandalism. There should be another way of dealing with this. $\endgroup$
    – fonini
    Jan 6, 2015 at 2:26
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    $\begingroup$ From time to time I pick a question as one of my favorites if I think there is reason it may be deleted. For me, after deletion, the question still appears in my favorites list, I can go to it, and I can still see it. The last part is because of having 10K... what I am not sure about is whether a post that you favorite would remain visible to you in your favorites list after deletion. $\endgroup$
    – Will Jagy
    Jan 6, 2015 at 4:22
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    $\begingroup$ for what it's worth, I just checked a different user on Main, I was able to see many deleted questions in his Favorites list. Meaning that, if you favorite something suspicious, a moderator or 10K could use your favorites list to quickly find the post in question. Oh, why might this be useful? A self-deleted question is very hard to find except for, I suspect, moderators. $\endgroup$
    – Will Jagy
    Jan 6, 2015 at 4:28
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    $\begingroup$ @WillJagy I do not know about any reasonable way to find self-deleted questions apart form this. (And even that method does not seem very reasonable - a lot of manual work.) $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Jan 6, 2015 at 10:47
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    $\begingroup$ @MartinSleziak, yes, I know I never found any on MSE. It was easy enough on MO before it joined up with SE and got much of the same software framework. MO had a list of all deletions back to the beginning of the site; no more. $\endgroup$
    – Will Jagy
    Jan 6, 2015 at 17:47
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    $\begingroup$ @Will, if I remember correctly there is a list of OP deleted posts that moderators can access. That said, I think if a OP deleted question is undeleted by a moderator it shouldn't be possible for OP to delete it again by themselves. $\endgroup$
    – Kaveh
    Jan 14, 2015 at 0:33

2 Answers 2

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Self-deletion after receiving an answer is an abuse of the site. (We're meant to be a repository of question and answer pairs--if someone deletes their question immediately, they're working against the purpose of the site.)

Therefore, you shouldn't let the issue rest; if the person deletes again, keep flagging. Eventually, a moderator may suspend the user and/or lock the post.

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    $\begingroup$ This has happened to me today, and again in the past couple of weeks. Absolutely unacceptable. To me, not only a flagrant abuse of the site, but an indication of a cheater. Pulling a Curt Shilling** may be warranted. **Curt Shilling is a retired American professional baseball player whose daughter was subject to abuse on Twitter by several users. Mr. Shilling performed a little detective work and publicly outed the owners of two of the Twitter accounts, two young men. The consequences for the two young men were severe. $\endgroup$
    – Ron Gordon
    Mar 14, 2015 at 12:37
  • $\begingroup$ but why do we allow deleting at all? In a sense, if a user deletes an unanswered question he removes any possibility of this question getting answered so it is also working against the purpose of this site. $\endgroup$
    – user691259
    Jul 25, 2019 at 6:53
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Over at MathOverflow, we (the moderators, sometimes asking for help) have semi-regularly gone on an undeleting spree. We use judgement; if there's some genuine reason for deleting (even embarrassment) we leave it deleted, but if it's a worthwhile question and we can't see any reason it's fair game.

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