The theory is that bad questions get closed and eventually deleted. The problem is that that does not happen:
- Here are over 2,000 closed questions with negative vote totals that are just sitting around.
Why? In some cases they’re duplicates and so should not be deleted. However, most of them are there because “almost nobody” ever deletes stuff on ELU. Some of you do — you know who you are. But for the most part, it doesn’t get done.
Currently, there are 643 closed questions with pending delete votes. 10k users should help dispatch those.
There are also 881 answers with pending delete votes. 20k users should help dispatch those.
Please see this Meta.SE posting from one of the Community Managers on “When should I vote to delete?”. We are specifically instructed to delete all questions that are closed Unclear, Off Topic, Primarily Opinion Based; many to most that are closed as Too Broad; and few that are closed as Duplicates.
That is not happening.
Yes, part of the problem is that there is no delete-review queue to help remind people, nor are there any badges awarded for deletion to help motivate them. Right now all we have is the 10k delete post rankings, which is a far cry from a real review queue for deletable stuff.
But it still needs doing.
Please help.