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I have noticed several times the same person editing low quality questions. The most recent example is this one. However, this edit simple replaced "fourier-fourier" (which is an obvious mistake and should only appear once) per "Fourier-fourier".

At the time I made my comment on this question, I was on mobile (and I am still), which makes editing harder. The question has several issues:

  • The title was wrong and low effort.

  • There was a direct link to an image instead of an actual text stating the problem clearly.

  • No effort was put at all.

I flagged that question but it remains open. But that's not my concern. The person having made the edit clearly didn't put any kind of effort whatsoever, and I noticed the same person usually does this on a regular basis.

Is there a way to punish such fallacious edits? I would say this is reputation abuse to farm points and is going against the website. The person could (and should) have put more effort into the edit, suggesting they didn't even read the body in the first place.

I don't know who reviewed my flag, but I wouldn't be surprised that this were the same person. How to justify that such a question is still open then?

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    $\begingroup$ Thanks for posting. I've noticed the same with respect to the editor you refer to. Secondly, the post now has 3 downvotes, and 3 close votes. In three hours time since the post, that's pretty good. Not all users who evaluate posts are available 24-7 (indeed none of us are), but it is heading in the right direction towards closure. Note, though, that the editor in this case no longer earns any reputation from suggestions edits. After one earns 2000 in rep, the user no longer can suggest edits, or otherwise earn points for editing. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Dec 9, 2020 at 18:16
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    $\begingroup$ Could you clarify what you mean by "to farm points"? The edit which you linked did not cause any reputation increase for the editor. $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Dec 9, 2020 at 18:17
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    $\begingroup$ @amWhy thank you for your feedback ! Then if I'm not the only one noticing that user, something may have to be done ? There is some abuse and something is broken if that's a thing to do such edits... $\endgroup$
    – Anthony
    Dec 9, 2020 at 18:18
  • $\begingroup$ @MartinSleziak It's weird, I though all edits increased reputation, or at least they do for me... Am I getting something wrong ? But despite that, the edit I linked is still a low quality edit and even useless ! $\endgroup$
    – Anthony
    Dec 9, 2020 at 18:20
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    $\begingroup$ Anthony Like I said previously, when anyone reaches 2000 in rep, one can edit, but there are no points awarded for the edited. But there still have been users attempting to have the "highest number of edits" among all users. Unfortunately, this site, like all of SE, uses ranking and such that cause some users to seek "the most edits by a user", or the most reviews in the "Late Answer queue", and in each review queue. And that leads to users dominating certain features on this site solely for their own status/only to give them heads up in whatever competition they seem to see. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Dec 9, 2020 at 18:22
  • $\begingroup$ @AnthonySaint-Criq Reputation is gained only from suggested edits, I left a bit more detailed explanation here in chat. BTW you can easily check reputation tab for any user to see whether they have some reputation changes recently (and whether some of them were from editing). $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Dec 9, 2020 at 18:27
  • $\begingroup$ Re: I don't know who reviewed my flag. It is a bit ambiguous what ambiguous what you mean by this. Probably you mean close flag, which is typically reviewed by several user. This question is still in the close votes review queue. $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Dec 9, 2020 at 18:31
  • $\begingroup$ @MartinSleziak Given the OP's rep, they likely cast a close vote. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Dec 9, 2020 at 18:36
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    $\begingroup$ In any case, some users farm rep, some far badges, some farm review queues, as well as those farming any form in which users are ranked: even if just moving from 9th to 8th place. I know one user who farms in all ways possible. SE as a whole encouraged the gamification of SE sites. Unfortunately, that has rewarded gamers far more than users who believe in the potential of this site, not as a means for them to show off, but as an educational Q&A, striving to provide an archive of truly helpful questions and answers. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Dec 9, 2020 at 18:41
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    $\begingroup$ The other problem not yest mentioned is when a few users swarm in to edit closed posts, sending the closed posts immediately to the reopon queue, taking away the opportunity for the OP of the question to improve it, add context, etc. Only the first edit to a closed question sends it for consideration in the reopen queue, for reopening. Only 10-20% of the questions showing up in the review queue are due to edits by the asker; all other, are due to editors who rob the asker from the chance to improve the question. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Dec 9, 2020 at 20:00
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    $\begingroup$ I have occasionally made small fixes to fairly low quality new questions, like de-capitalizing a screaming title. I do it because I think it might influence others to think better of the question and maybe be more willing to engage the user and improve the question, but I don't want to spend the time doing that myself. I'm at a point where my edits don't need to be approved, and they don't gain me reputation. I think of it like picking up a piece of trash in the park -- it's not fixing any of the big problems but it makes the site just a bit nicer looking. $\endgroup$
    – JonathanZ supports MonicaC
    Dec 9, 2020 at 22:07
  • $\begingroup$ @JonathanZsupportsMonicaC That's absolutely helpful, when you edit a post prior to when the post is closed. After that point, if you're the first to edit the post to make it look a bit nicer, as I said, you are robbing the OP from having their post sent to the review queue after including context, etc. And editing a post cosmetically, soon after its closure, you're making the problem worse for the OP that wants to improve the post and have it re-evaluated in the reopen queue. The very first edit to a post, after its closure, is the only time it is sent to the review queue. $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Dec 9, 2020 at 22:20
  • $\begingroup$ ...And I never reopen a post that only "looks nicer", but fails to correct for the reason it was closed, or is not an edit by the OP. And, closed posts, unless improved in terms of substantive/contextual edits, will likely go away, even if they look "pretty". $\endgroup$
    – amWhy
    Dec 9, 2020 at 22:20
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    $\begingroup$ @amWhy- I was mostly letting the OP know why someone might make minor edits to a low-quality post, and to let them see how rep might not even enter into it. And like I said, I only do that for new posts, I mean like less than half an hour old. If they've gone longer than that they've either already gotten attention from others, or are likely to be ignored. Either way it doesn't seem fruitful by that point. $\endgroup$
    – JonathanZ supports MonicaC
    Dec 9, 2020 at 23:05
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    $\begingroup$ The post you link is now deleted. $\endgroup$
    – ViktorStein
    Dec 12, 2020 at 11:07

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