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Using this query get post list of a deleted user or answers of a deleted user and estimated reputation of a deleted user I could realize that an specific no longer user had 722 answers and approximately 28753 points! and yet decided to delete their account.

It's not the first time that I witness such incredibly deletions. Another user whom had his real name, (I know because I once had a discussion with him and that's how I could link his name) he had approximately 24799 points and 584 answers.

I think we should do something about it because you don't get easily more than 20k nor you easily answer more than 500 answers. Takes a lot of time, effort, etc.

I have thought in this:

To have something like "Please think twice, it's very likely that you'll regret" additionally to the default one day to wait for the deletion.

If the first doesn't work, then at least we should do something about it with their points. We could suggest the user that had decided to delete their account to spend their rep in bounties to difficult questions or questions that the user likes or in outstanding answers.

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    $\begingroup$ If they decided to had their account deleted, they obviously do not care about the rep. points. And you cannot transfer their points to anyone else, since this is their points. Essentially nothing is lost. The Questions/Answers are still on site. $\endgroup$
    – Arctic Char
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 18:11
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    $\begingroup$ And when they chose to delete theiry account, they have IIRC 24 hours before the account really got deleted and one can stop the deletion in that 24 hours. Some with tons of answers might take even longer. $\endgroup$
    – Arctic Char
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 18:22
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    $\begingroup$ There was also an user with >100k rep who deleted his account: math.meta.stackexchange.com/a/19245/515527 $\endgroup$
    – Zacky
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 18:50
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    $\begingroup$ I'm not sure why you would characterize this action as "crazy", and I am not sure that I understand why you would the number of imaginary internet points associated to an account should matter. If a user decides that they no longer want to be part of this community, they probably also don't consider their imaginary internet points to be all that valuable, either. $\endgroup$
    – Xander Henderson Mod
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 20:15
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    $\begingroup$ @LeBlanc A minute of silence for that account.. $\endgroup$
    – user486983
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 21:19
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    $\begingroup$ " they obviously do not care about the rep. points. " I know, but they could 'donate' them. For instance if they don't wanna know about anything about their account, then somebody else (mods or trustworthy person) could 'manage' their account and do something nice with their points (under the donation consent of the user of course) $\endgroup$
    – user486983
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 21:27
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    $\begingroup$ @XanderHenderson I said "crazy" because you don't get for free more than 20k, that is, it takes lot of your time, effort,etc. and then to just deliberately decide to delete it?// Those imaginary internet points matter a lot. Some users out there only help you if you did put a bounty in your question, they also matter for your curriculum (in case you have your real name, of course), and many other privileges. $\endgroup$
    – user486983
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 21:38
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    $\begingroup$ @XanderHenderson but if you don't care about the imaginary points, then you could share them :) .Maybe in old (say before 2015) unanswered questions or questions that most people don't wanna spend time in. $\endgroup$
    – user486983
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 21:45
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    $\begingroup$ I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because we do not discuss specific user deletions. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 21:45
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    $\begingroup$ @AsafKaragila that's not fair, it takes only one of your vote to do that. You should let the community to vote (which requires 5 votes). $\endgroup$
    – user486983
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 21:47
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    $\begingroup$ It's been standard policy since more-or-less the conception of site that we do not discuss private matters publicly. Moderators are not allowed to discuss this by their agreement when they join the moderator team of their site, and we expect regular users to also respect the privacy of users who decide to leave the site. If you want to dispute this, you are free to raise this topic for discussion, but currently (and in general) I am very much against discussions which are entirely speculative. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 21:50
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    $\begingroup$ "Those imaginary internet points matter a lot." @user486983 No, they really don't. They matter a lot to some people. To someone who has determined that they don't matter, THE DON'T MATTER. Why go through the time and effort of "donating" them by offering bounties if you have already determined that you don't want to be associate with MSE any longer? $\endgroup$
    – Xander Henderson Mod
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 23:15
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    $\begingroup$ @user486983 Why? XP on MSE is not a zero sum game. In the "economy" of reputation, nothing is lost. Moreover, the idea of reputation on MSE is that it should emulate reputation in the real world---you earn it through individual interactions with others. Redistributing the reputation of deleted accounts runs counter that that philosophy. And, again, they are imaginary internet points. In the grand scheme of things, they simply don't matter. $\endgroup$
    – Xander Henderson Mod
    Commented Oct 1, 2019 at 0:04
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    $\begingroup$ @user486983 As a 100k user, my account only really has two things of real value to me: (1) no barrier in the rare instances I feel like commenting/answer, and (2) a relatively easy way to locate and browse things I know I've written in the past. But it also has things I value negatively, the clearest being associating my handle with the SE network. If it does so, when the latter outweighs the former, I will once again submit my account for deletion -- and that time I will not go radio silent so I actually get the confirmation request and respond to it. $\endgroup$
    – user14972
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 9:26
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    $\begingroup$ ... as for being associated with SE, in the past, my issue was over mse seeming to degenerate towards the homework mill paradigm and a few specific users. Today, both the licensing and CoC debacles make the company look like something I really don't want to be supporting at all. $\endgroup$
    – user14972
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 17:07

1 Answer 1

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While I cannot speculate on specific cases, I've seen high-reputation accounts get deleted for a variety of reasons. For example,

  • dissatisfaction with the site direction,
  • disagreement with mods,
  • getting suspended for irregular voting patterns.

As for your suggestions to add a warning and grace period, I believe it's already the case. See this post for details.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for your answer. I was aware of that warning note and grace period (that's what I meant with 'the default one day to wait for the deletion'), but sincerely I don't see it as enough or complete. I think it's necessary "Please think twice, it's very likely that you'll regret" and perhaps in big capital font and probably even more because it's not just a 1k deletion (that you'll probably recover in, say some month(s)) it's more than 20k. $\endgroup$
    – user486983
    Commented Sep 30, 2019 at 22:30
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    $\begingroup$ With regards to your first point, when you go to 'Delete Profile', your account will only be deleted if you click the box saying 'I have read the information stated above'. If you do not feel this is adequate to prevent accidental/impulsive deletions (which I doubt there are many of), you can ask a new question regarding this. $\endgroup$
    – Toby Mak
    Commented Oct 1, 2019 at 5:27
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    $\begingroup$ And about your second point, I don't think there are many people would want to rejoin the site after they have deleted their account. If the user has made their decision honestly and in good faith, there should be no reason to stop their personal decision. In fact, if SE put a notice with big capital letters, it would be seen as clingy or perhaps greedy for SE to intervene, which would not go well given the recent situation SE has found itself in. $\endgroup$
    – Toby Mak
    Commented Oct 1, 2019 at 5:31
  • $\begingroup$ @TobyMak About the second point, some people are impulsive which means that in a 'mad moment' are capable of doing weird things but after some days or probably months, they realize about their mistakes. Given that we don't know who we are dealing with but we do know all their hard work they had done in mse, we should perhaps thinking about giving more than one day of grace period.// I haven't fully understand the recent situation link that you mention $\endgroup$
    – user486983
    Commented Oct 1, 2019 at 16:22
  • $\begingroup$ I think your suggestion about extending the grace period is reasonable. From my experience, other sites have longer grace periods: for example, Khan Academy has 7 days. Also, don't worry about understanding the link I gave. The situation is very complicated, and no one (not even moderators or SE staff) have a full picture of the situation. $\endgroup$
    – Toby Mak
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 9:52
  • $\begingroup$ @TobyMak Ok. Would be a good idea if you use pings @ $\endgroup$
    – user486983
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 16:04
  • $\begingroup$ There are many reasons that one wish to join the site with a new account. They might be tried of answering comments left under their answers (which might be a lot), they might want a new identity to participate @TobyMak $\endgroup$
    – Arctic Char
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 16:26
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    $\begingroup$ @user486983 It seems that you are rooting in the assumption that reputation is a reason to participate. For a lot of users, this is just not true. The rep. point is of no importance in the first place, so there's nothing "mad" about deleting their accounts. $\endgroup$
    – Arctic Char
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 16:27
  • $\begingroup$ I can see it both ways. $\endgroup$
    – user645636
    Commented Oct 2, 2019 at 18:53