It seems SE travel has it's own non-SE regulations and the asker has to justify him/herself to the rest of the users including his motives in asking the question, so I was wondering if it's against the site spiritual rituals to ask questions about a place where you actually live and very familiar with?
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Where are you seeing this apparent behaviour? It'd help if you linked to where this problem is occurring so we can help correct it.– Mark MayoMay 3, 2016 at 1:27
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@MarkMayo my last question is travel related, it's on hold because I am the one who asked it, no more no less. A comment suggesting that I m a terrorist is still there even when I reported it. This place is run by a gang without any consideration for SE rules.– UlkomaMay 3, 2016 at 6:14
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2Again you never link. I assume then that you mean this question - where the word terrorist doesn't appear once on the page, as far as I can see. Can you please link to what you're concerned about?– Mark MayoMay 3, 2016 at 6:17
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It was also closed for being off topic, as voted by the community, not 'because you are the one who asked it'. Note the first comment stating this, and the up votes it's received by people agreeing it's off-topic.– Mark MayoMay 3, 2016 at 6:19
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@MarkMayo Does it make you feel better to pretend to be formal and copy the FAQs instead of dealing with the real problem here?– UlkomaMay 3, 2016 at 6:22
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@MarkMayo travel.stackexchange.com/questions/67473/…– UlkomaMay 3, 2016 at 6:23
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@MarkMayo how is it off topic? Would care to explain?– UlkomaMay 3, 2016 at 6:23
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@MarkMayo travel.stackexchange.com/questions/59130/…– UlkomaMay 3, 2016 at 6:26
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Sigh. I've not copied any FAQS above. Not sure why you're saying that, but it does come across as passive aggressive, when I'm just trying to help. Neither comments you linked to call you a terrorist, however the second one is out of line and I've deleted it, I agree with you on that one. As for being off topic, the help center lists what is on/off topic, and then it's up to the community to decide if a question meets those rules. If enough vote, it gets closed. I was not one of those members. If you feel it's been incorrectly closed, you can start a meta to discuss it.– Mark MayoMay 3, 2016 at 6:43
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Anyway, we're now discussing stuff in comments, which is not recommended. Please continue this in the chat if you want to discuss.– Mark MayoMay 3, 2016 at 6:44
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1I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because we have to assume it was asked in bad faith and will ultimately be used to justify some future trolling by the OP. The tone of the subsequent discussion also bears this out and shows that no productive discussion is possible in this context.– RelaxedMay 3, 2016 at 7:44
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@Relaxed thank you very much for this comment, it proves my point.. "Bad faith".... This is beyond crazy!– UlkomaMay 3, 2016 at 8:07
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Briefly, I would say that your most recent question was off-topic because it was fundamentally about (imitation) firearms law in the UK and not about travel. In addition, the fact that you have asked questions in bad faith before and acknowledged as such in the body of the gun-shaped controller question makes it hard for people to take you seriously now.– Zach LiptonMay 3, 2016 at 8:19
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1Nothing in your most recent question involves your religion, race, or country of origin. I see nowhere on the entire page of your most recent question where people attacked you for those things. People voted to close the question as off-topic and the question was put on hold. You also got some useful answers. To the extent people question your motives, it is because your past behavior on the site gives them more than reasonable cause to do so.– Zach LiptonMay 3, 2016 at 8:34
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@ZachLipton it was in the chat and some other older questions, also my motives are irrelevant to any of this as I can't find it anywhere in SE rules where it says that I need to login with good motives and the site users can read my mind and verify my intentions. What is my past behaviour exactly? Asking questions? In SE infosec we had a ransomware author answering a question, I am sure his motives are worse than mine.– UlkomaMay 3, 2016 at 8:39
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3 Answers
It seems SE travel has it's own non-SE regulations and the asker has to justify him/herself to the rest of the users including his motives in asking the question
Travel SE does not have it's own non-SE regulations. Travel.SE has it's own regulations, like all other SE sites. In addition. Travel.SE abides to the general SE regulations. If you feel that this is not the case, if you think that the rules have been breached, you should bring the issue up with the moderating team by using the appropriate flagging mechanisms. This (no so) thinly-veiled passive aggressive comment in a Meta post serves absolutely no purpose, except annoying community users.
Having said this, if the question is on-topic as per SE and Travel.SE rules then it can be asked on the website. What do the rules say? There are topics you can ask about. There are also types of questions you should avoid asking.
IMHO, travel-related questions about where you live(d), answered with your own personal knowledge or not, can be asked, and answered, on Travel.SE provided they respect the afore-mentioned rules.
It's absolutely okay to ask such questions. In my opinion, it is not against the rules to ask a question to which you know the answer, I even find it a desirable contribution to the site.
Travel.SE is a place to learn more about travelling and places one might not know, so I find it perfectly acceptable, even desirable that a local would contribute questions (even if they know the answer, they may even answer their own question) and knowledge to this site. I don't know what gave you this impression, but it seems mistaken to me. Happy contributing!
I agree that questions about where you live can certainly be on topic, and answering your own question can be helpful in this situation. Local knowledge is what makes this site particularly useful, and it's great when someone posts as an answer "I just went and checked, and here's what I saw."
The guidelines tell us: "You should only ask practical, answerable questions based on actual problems that you face." Historically, Stack Exchange sites have been a little more loose than that; questions a hypothetical person may face are fine and are actually useful when constructing canonical questions or setting up a self-answer.
That said, the hypothetical person asking the question should be a reasonable traveler asking about travel. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that questions about the place where you live, like all questions on this site, should be reasonably related to travel. This goes along with the broader theme of asking questions that are "relevant to others," not intended as a rant or to start a discussion, and more than just "mindless social fun." When questions get away from "actual problems that you face" territory, it's easier for them to veer off-topic and you're more likely to see a negative reaction from the community.
As an example, Gayot Fow authored this excellent question and answer about bank statements for a UK visa. We all know that he's not actually applying for a UK visa and doesn't personally have this question. But it's a great question because we know it (and more importantly, the extensive answer that went with it) is useful to the many people who are interested in the topic. In contrast, a hypothetical question that is less grounded in an actual problem people routinely have probably won't go over so well.
If your question could reasonably help someone engaging in the sorts of activities broadly typical of a traveler to your area, then I'd go for it. If your question seems like it could be intended to provoke a reaction out of people or to address a problem nobody really has, then I'd skip it.
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1I am downvoting this answer to allow automatic deletion once the question is closed. I think we should not engage with the OP anymore.– RelaxedMay 3, 2016 at 7:47
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1I think a review of the OP's record shows mixed results at asking questions, with some reasonable and useful questions mixed with some decidedly less so. He has also admitted to past trolling in his most recent question (that line has since been edited out). There may well be merit in hashing all that out in a separate meta post, but the basic question of "can you ask questions about the place where you live?" is a reasonable one worth discussing. May 3, 2016 at 7:53
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2@ZachLipton I agree, it is a reasonable question. Except that we know it was not intended that way. May 3, 2016 at 7:56