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Recently I have been noticing a trend in the types of questions that are upvoted. I have concluded that questions that seem to be tough(tough in this context means that many users are not able to solve it) and effortless tend to get more upvotes than questions with "clear,useful research and effort".

Consider this recent question. The OP has made no effort other than merely sharing a "thought". Also consider this and even this.

While posts with at least some effort posted by new users are brutally downvoted and closed(as in this case), others with a lot of effort put in are poorly received, and sometimes left unanswered/abandoned.

I do believe that intriguing questions are to be upvoted for some attention. However, "effort put in" should be the decisive factor for upvoting a question. How can the community resolve this issue?

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    $\begingroup$ As of the old questions you linked, the community standards and guidelines 10 years ago were different. in my opinion, if a question looks like "If you put a nail there, it will work" tend to get less attention than "can you balance nails on top of each other?" and "I don't know how to hammer a nail". This is an attribute to the human nature, i.e. sharing the most possible. $\endgroup$
    – Anindya Prithvi
    Nov 27, 2020 at 15:04
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    $\begingroup$ Please explain what you mean by "Hype" in your title? $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Nov 27, 2020 at 19:02
  • $\begingroup$ Try to write a more relevant title, rather than a click-bait-ish title. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Nov 27, 2020 at 19:08
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    $\begingroup$ The post that was "brutally downvoted and closed" looked like this when it was first posted: Group homomorphism mappings between different types of group How does one work out which elements map from say <Z/nZ,+> to say Sn if theta(1) = some permutation of Sn for example? So, not much effort there. I expect it was the editing that led to it being reopened. $\endgroup$
    – Gerry Myerson
    Nov 27, 2020 at 23:11
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    $\begingroup$ I recently got a question closed via CURED chatroom. It was a recent question from Nov 2020 and was at a very advanced level (for me at least) and had no context whatsoever. It was well received and well answered before it came in my review queue (via audit). I hope this will encourage askers to add some context in questions which are at an advanced level or rather difficult / tough. Not everyone may share this view but I think treating such questions in a different manner leads to double standards. $\endgroup$
    – Paramanand Singh Mod
    Dec 3, 2020 at 10:34
  • $\begingroup$ @ParamanandSingh I hope the same too. I just want this to be a harmonious give-and-take community(as always ;-)). $\endgroup$
    – DatBoi
    Dec 3, 2020 at 10:38
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    $\begingroup$ @DatBoi: the community is mostly harmonious. There may be some rare events which may lead to a different perception, but for this site I find people and their behavior much nicer than what I see elsewhere (online and offline). $\endgroup$
    – Paramanand Singh Mod
    Dec 3, 2020 at 10:40

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I think the thing is that most people find it easier to advise on standard methods/ textbook answers rather than spend time to think through and write a tailored response to someone who is having a particular doubt.

In my personal experience, there are some particular people who attend those types of conceptual questions particularly but those people generally seek out a high standard of such questions and reply rarely.

A final note is appealing questions are preferred over ~~ non-appealing one.

Edit: replaced the word exciting with appealing

Personal anecdotes of this:

My top most answer is one where I gave a one-line solution to a determinant problem , see here vs this detailed answer I wrote

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    $\begingroup$ How would you define "exciting questions"? Only those questions that excite you personally? Ditto for your definition of "non-exciting questions" (those that do not excite you)? $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Nov 27, 2020 at 19:05
  • $\begingroup$ Well it's not from a personal standpoint rather the collective 'emergent' mind which represents the community. There are questions about certain topics which people on this site find more appealing than others. $\endgroup$
    – Hopeful Whitepiller
    Nov 27, 2020 at 21:51
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    $\begingroup$ It is rather ludicrous for any one user (here only one year and a couple of months) to claim they are speaking on behalf of "the emergent mind which represents the community, particularly given the thousands of users who've been here far longer than you. One year and a couple of months on this site doesn't bestow the privilege of assuming you know what the 'emergent' mind representing the community, would say. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:13
  • $\begingroup$ Also, Buraian, you never answered questions. what counts as "exciting questions" and "non-exciting questions"? $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:16
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    $\begingroup$ Disregarding the amount of time that I was here, it is a fact that a collective consciousness exists for this site whether you like it or not, we are all simply nodes in the 'brain' of this site. I'm not speaking as a spokes person for it, but rather my opinion on what it is backed by my personal experience. Your personal experience may differ leading you to a different conclusions. I think that the true answer to this question is subjective and varies from person to person unless we do some sort of statistical studies on the different kinds of questions asked. $\endgroup$
    – Hopeful Whitepiller
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:31
  • $\begingroup$ Whatever the community wishes it to be, there are simply more preference for certain kind of question and answers than others $\endgroup$
    – Hopeful Whitepiller
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:33
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for acknowleging this question, and your answer are opinion-based/subjective. And that's a reason for closure. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:34
  • $\begingroup$ Well isn't most of meta answers , a collective opinion of the stackexchange community? There is no absolute bible where we can derive policy from rather it is done best to the knowledge of the crowd $\endgroup$
    – Hopeful Whitepiller
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:35
  • $\begingroup$ Regarding your second-to-last comment: perhaps but those preferences of some often counter the preferences of others. And all I'm asking is for you to assert you know precisely what the collective will of this site is. Hence, do not answer any questions on main, or on meta, by subjective speculation. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:36
  • $\begingroup$ I am not sure how you are so confidently saying there is some objective truths which can be written as answers. The only truth in science is a collective agreement, not an absolute one. $\endgroup$
    – Hopeful Whitepiller
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:37
  • $\begingroup$ And may I remind you, you have failed to answer my questions posed at the start. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:38
  • $\begingroup$ You are barraging me with questions, let's work through them one by one $\endgroup$
    – Hopeful Whitepiller
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:38
  • $\begingroup$ You're putting words in my mouth, in your current second-to-last comment. I said nothing to the effect you are claiming I said. No, you keep evading answering my initial questions. I don't play games with users who interact by playing games. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:41
  • $\begingroup$ Ok, maybe miscommunication but I am not understanding what you are saying. You are saying not to answer any question by subjective speculation, to that I answer most of science involves collective agreement rather than some objective truth. I simply gave me subjective view point on this matter on meta. It's impossible for anyone to give any sort of objective answer on this, if you think it is possible then please explain how $\endgroup$
    – Hopeful Whitepiller
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:43
  • $\begingroup$ I'll post some examples of what I mean to illustrate my point $\endgroup$
    – Hopeful Whitepiller
    Nov 27, 2020 at 22:44

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