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I noticed this question from November 2018: Can I permanently hide the YouTube chat window? which received a lot of positive feedback (+31 votes, 52k views), was unilaterally closed by a moderator on March 25, 2023, more than 4 years after it was posted, for the reason that it “needs details or clarity”. The question was then locked on March 30, 2023. At this point, no comments were left to explain what details or clarity were needed. Later, on April 8, 2023, a comment by the moderator who closed the question was made: "This question doesn't meet the current quality standards."

I am curious about the reason for closing and locking this question, which has been open and unlocked for more than 4 years. The question seems straightforward and clear to me: It asks how to hide the chat section that shows up on the right sidebar of some videos on YouTube, a web app (which is relevant to this site). Could someone please kindly clarify what part of it is unclear and point me to the community consensus that led to the closure and locking of the question?

Since the reason for closure and locking doesn't seem to be clear, I would like to request to please reopen and unlock the question: "Can I permanently hide the YouTube chat window?"

Note: This meta post is open for input and discussion from the community. All members of the Web Applications SE community are encouraged to join the discussion.

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This is a great question that should not have been closed, in my opinion, especially not for lacking "clarity or details". The question is clear and detailed enough.

Web Apps Stack Exchange does not have enough people contributing good questions and good answers. We shouldn't discourage people by downvoting good questions like these, let alone closing these question posts, or worse, deleting them.

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    If the mods disagree, I would love to hear the opinion of more than one mod. It seems to me that a lot of this is the work of only one moderator, although I cannot prove it.
    – Flimm
    Commented Mar 27, 2023 at 16:57
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    Yes, it is still unclear to me what "needs details or clarity" about the question.
    – galacticninja
    Commented Mar 30, 2023 at 6:37
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From what I understand, the moderator who closed and locked the question did so because they thought it did not meet research standards (moderators, please let me know if I’m mistaken). This is a disputed and subjective standard that has been opposed by several members of the community, myself included.

I have reached out to the community managers about this matter, and they have created a meta FAQ post so the community can clarify the site policy: “Does Web Apps Stack Exchange Require Research?". The community vote on that post indicates that the community does not agree with closing questions for not meeting research standards, and therefore moderators should not apply this as a criterion to close questions.

Based on this community consensus and site policy, I believe the question is valid and deserves to be reopened. I flagged it ten days ago, on Oct. 27, 2023, with a custom reason requesting for it to be reopened and referencing the meta FAQ post, “Does Web Apps Stack Exchange Require Research?”, but my flag is still awaiting review as of now.

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