# Is it possible a question actually “too localized” in MSE?

According to the "close" box, "too localized" means:

This question is unlikely to ever help any future visitors; it is only relevant to a small geographic area, a specific moment in time, or an extraordinarily narrow situation that is not generally applicable to the worldwide audience of the internet.

However, topics in separated branches of math are usually "only relevant to a small geographic area" and "extraordinarily narrow situation" to the worldwide audience of the internet. But they also usually have high value so are not "unlikely to ever help any future visitors". Thus should not be treated as "too localized".

So is it impossible a question "too localized" in MSE?

• Certainly it's possible. Questions like "What's a good Ph.D. program in Israel?" is very localized. Also, don't read too much into the description of the closing reasons. It is often just the lack of custom reasons which drive people to choose the "least incorrect" reason. – Asaf Karagila Apr 6 '13 at 9:32
• There was a post on Meta.SO about too localized reasons that I found particularly instructive. I'd like to add that I think Asaf's suggested topic is actually only applicable to a small geographic area, whereas few MSE questions suffer from this. – davidlowryduda Apr 6 '13 at 10:03
• @AsafKaragila Yes, I agree. – Popopo Apr 6 '13 at 10:14
• As a matter of fact, a question such as "How do I find the $x$ and $y$ in $x+y=3x-y=10$?" might actually earn the "too localized", but if the asker had been able to even formulate a more general question such as "How can systems of linear equations in two unknowns with rational coefficients be soved?", he probably wouldn't need help with the given question in the first place. – Hagen von Eitzen Apr 6 '13 at 17:01