It seems like there's been less voting to close since Pro-Tem moderators were appointed.
Us moderators can only close a question, we can't vote to close, and we'd prefer to have the site run democratically as much as possible instead of moderators heavy-handedly stepping in all the time. On the other hand, at this point, there aren't very many users with enough rep to vote to close a question yet.
A couple of us moderators really liked this response to this question on meta.cooking.stackexchange.com about the same topic over there.
What does everybody think? Do you want moderators to step in and close questions like this one†? Would you prefer that the community do more of the "policing", or that the 3 pro-tem moderators step in whenever a question is problematic? Can we get more people voting to close problematic questions?
Borrowing generously from the (CC-Wiki licensed) comment on meta.cooking.SE, here's a good methodology for users to follow:
[S]tart with these two steps:
- If the question is subjective and not wiki, flag for moderator attention. Don't leave a comment asking the author to do it; many won't understand, some won't be able, all will be annoyed, and already-submitted rep-farming answers will remain in non-wiki mode.
- Determine the most applicable close reason for the question. If the question can be made more objective / less localized / more coherent / etc. (whatever would prevent it from being closed), without altering the question's meaning, then edit it. Stop.
Assuming the question can't be edited due to insufficient detail (which is the case for at least 90% of closed subjective questions) then it goes down one of the following two tracks:
- Leave a comment warning that the question as written is likely to be closed.
- Suggest how the author could improve the question.
- If the author fails to respond within a reasonable time (i.e. a few hours), actually vote to close.
The other strategy, which is the one [they] prefer, is:
- Immediately vote to close.
- Leave a comment explaining (politely!) why you voted to close.
- Suggest how the author could improve the question, or appeal the decision on meta.
- Return to the question several hours later, and if it has been closed and also edited (improved), then vote to reopen it.
This would mean the pro-tem moderators would need to step in for the (flagged) subjective questions.
† I don't mean to pick on the poster of that question specifically, it's just a recent example.