Why did I receive a 30-day suspension because of a few questions closed by a new policy ("show research") introduced after the questions were posted?

Question

On March 10, 2023, I received a 30-day suspension due to, according to one moderator, low-quality questions. I am puzzled because:

1. I had only 2 questions over the 30 days prior to the suspension, as it can be seen on my profile.
2. Out of these 2 questions, one was well received and the second one was closed by 1 moderator (the same who suspended me. I tried to improve the closed question, but the moderator wouldn't respond to my request for help to understand how I can improve the question. I had also asked on Meta, but I was still not told how I could show research for that question.

The entire message explaining the suspension also mentions the following questions that I posted in January 2023:

• How can I search for a string across all comments in a PDF on Acrobat Web?
• How can I see the list of links that someone messaged on Slack, either in direct messages or in shared channels? (mirror)
• How can I view the most recently created Google documents in my Google Drive?

The 3 questions, which were typically upvoted, were closed in March because the same moderator had unilaterally decided, after my questions were posted, that showing research in a question is now a requirement.

Why did I receive a 30-day suspension because of questions closed by a new policy introduced after the questions were posted?

I first asked this question privately as a response to my suspension message, but I didn't receive any response, hence this Meta post following the standard SE procedure.

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Here is the entire message explaining the suspension:

Hello,

We're writing in reference to your Web Applications Stack Exchange account:

https://webapps.stackexchange.com/users/18147/franck-dernoncourt

We really want you to have a good experience here, and the first step to that is making sure that questions you submit are clear, on topic and provide all of the information someone would need to answer. You may have noticed that questions you’ve asked weren’t well received by the community; they were downvoted and closed.

Specifically, we would like to highlight these questions:

• How can I automatically refresh a pivot table in Excel 365 (web)?

• How can I view the channels that I have been added to recently on Slack?

• How can I search for a string across all comments in a PDF on Acrobat Web?

• How can I see the list of links that someone messaged on Slack, either in direct messages or in shared channels?

• How can I view the most recently created Google documents in my Google Drive?

There are a number of potential reasons for this and we’d like to help you diagnose exactly what’s happening. Questions may be downvoted and closed because they fit one of our closure criteria, or are of the type that we’d prefer users refrain from asking. While we’re excited that you’re contributing, we ask that you please take some time to read the information linked below - prior to asking another question - in order to assure the best possible experience (both for yourself, and also for other community members):

• A brief guide on how to ask questions

• A short summary of questions we permit

Your account has been temporarily suspended for 30 days. While you’re suspended, your reputation will show as 1 but will be restored once the suspension ends.

Regards,
Web Applications Stack Exchange Moderation Team

and here's my private response to the moderator, which got ignored:

My questions aren't badly received by the community (they've attracted millions of visitors). Instead, some of them are closed by Ruben, because they don't show research, which is a new requirement announced less than one month ago.

I've only posted 2 questions since this new "show research" requirement was announced: one question shows research and the other question doesn't show research, but I don't know how to show research for it. I've asked in the comment section of the question, then on Meta, but I was not told how I could show research for that question.

How can I show research for that question? I'd be happy to follow your guidance but I really don't know what I can say to show my research. I searched the question on Google, and looked at slack.com/help, but I didn't see any answer. So what should I say in the question to show my research? My search queries? URLs I looked at? etc.

Answer 1

I have reviewed the actions taken on your account and agree with Ruben.

You should refrain from reposting questions that have been deleted for being low quality or having no answers.

The correct course of action is to edit the questions to provide more information, vote to undelete yourself (if you are able) and if in extremis flag the question for moderator attention. However, this last action isn't likely to result in the question being undeleted as we're not necessarily subject matter experts and unless the improved question is now exemplary it's likely to remain deleted.

Suspending a user is drastic, but can be required to make sure that the undesirable behaviour stops and the user takes notice. The fact that you persisted in this behaviour after your first warning suggests that you haven't taken our message on board and so a second suspension is warranted.

If you think the criteria for deleting unanswered questions with low views are too strict then the correct course of action is to raise that here on meta as a question suggesting that the criteria are relaxed. The community can then discuss this and come to a conclusion and we can approach the community managers with our suggestions.