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There has been a huge spurt in the number of edits on questions and answers, as most of you would have noticed.

I am not against editing; I actually appreciate many of the edits, including the ones on my posts. They really were worthwile and made much sense to me.

Please note I am not posting this on meta to point fingers, grill, roast, bake or fry anyone here: I just feel we need to sit down (if not already) and discuss/realize that editing has reached a new maximum, especially on very old posts, and correct ourselves if necessary.

I wish to highlight that they are being bumped to the home page, and really cloud up the place. Our community isn't that small and is having a steady inflow of new users and new questions everyday.

None of the above matters, but this does: I really was quite disappointed at the trivial nature of several edits (refer to links at the end and in comments) and the incompleteness of some others.

The SE system is very transparent, and I have been studying this for quite some time now.

Editing is encouraged: please help our site edge towards perfection. But I hope you might offer some insightful discussion with regards to the present situation, and exercise discretion and restraint when necessary.

Some examples for the sake of reference: Unnecessary edit: https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/posts/73089/revisions Incomplete+Unnecessary edit(image description is vital): https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/posts/115071/revisions

Please take it positively, we all care about the site.

Some have highlighted that the user was purposely bumping posts to the homepage. In that case the edit summary must have mentioned that, provided the bump was necessary. In most cases it wasn't.

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    $\begingroup$ Related: Prevention of unnecessary edits of old posts.; Editing gone wild. $\endgroup$
    – andselisk Mod
    May 23, 2019 at 8:28
  • $\begingroup$ Having a couple of examples might actually be helpful in this situation. I think we can all be objective about it. $\endgroup$
    – jonsca
    May 23, 2019 at 20:36
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    $\begingroup$ @jonsca Here are two: chemistry.stackexchange.com/posts/115541/revisions and chemistry.stackexchange.com/posts/114716/revisions (revison 4 in both) $\endgroup$
    – William R. Ebenezer
    May 24, 2019 at 0:36
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    $\begingroup$ @jonsca I am in no wise condemning a single user. $\endgroup$
    – William R. Ebenezer
    May 24, 2019 at 0:46
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    $\begingroup$ chemistry.stackexchange.com/posts/47346/revisions and chemistry.stackexchange.com/posts/115071/revisions and chemistry.stackexchange.com/posts/73089/revisions too $\endgroup$
    – William R. Ebenezer
    May 24, 2019 at 1:01
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    $\begingroup$ @andselisk Point to be noted: What I find disturbing is if these edits were made by a <2K user (which will need approval), all these edits would be straight-out rejected. And it's not about the +2 rep. $\endgroup$
    – William R. Ebenezer
    May 24, 2019 at 1:07
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    $\begingroup$ @WilliamR.Ebenezer I agree that the examples you have shown seem to be too superficial of edits. A lot of these examples come from the recently popular meta question chemistry.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/4507/…, so it seems likely the intent in these cases was to bump the question up to the front page. I think there is another discussion to be had about how the community feels about using edits to bump posts, but in either case edits should be complete. $\endgroup$
    – Tyberius Mod
    May 24, 2019 at 19:28
  • $\begingroup$ @Tyberius there are other ways to bump the question, right? Like the community ♦ does sometimes? $\endgroup$
    – William R. Ebenezer
    May 24, 2019 at 19:31
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    $\begingroup$ @WilliamR.Ebenezer yes, but I believe the community bumps are generally automated and have a fairly specific time range over which they work. Related: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/48578/… $\endgroup$
    – Tyberius Mod
    May 24, 2019 at 19:35
  • $\begingroup$ @Tyberius In that case, she should have stated "bump to homepage" in the edit description, or at least answered/commented here. $\endgroup$
    – William R. Ebenezer
    May 24, 2019 at 19:38
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    $\begingroup$ "at least answered/commented here" You have to be aware that people have their own lives to deal with, too, and I am sure she will reply when she has the time to. I know we're moderators and all that, but it doesn't mean we have to be always present...! On the issue of editing, I broadly agree with Tyberius' comment(s). $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    May 25, 2019 at 0:44
  • $\begingroup$ Also related: Are questions being excessively edited? where I've provided my stance on it - I shan't repeat it here. $\endgroup$
    – orthocresol
    May 25, 2019 at 0:58
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    $\begingroup$ Hey, I've been making a lot of edits to questions, but I have been visiting these questions for reasons other than editing. I've been looking for questions to compile in a list to retag, bounty, and especially questions that could use better answers. Usually, they are on the front page already and have had something removed (spammy answer.) Since the answer is usually removed, it appears that the bump to the front page has occurred because of the edit when that was not necessarily the cause. $\endgroup$
    – Melanie Palen
    May 25, 2019 at 2:24
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    $\begingroup$ I guess, to sum it up, if I'm on a question for any reason, I'll take a look at any formatting/grammar/spelling issues. If they are glaring, I'll definitely edit all q/a on the page. If there is any modding to be done, I'll definitely edit. If it's on the front page already, I'll definitely edit. I'll try to hold back on some of the editing in the future. $\endgroup$
    – Melanie Palen
    May 25, 2019 at 2:35
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    $\begingroup$ Also, I invite you to see my edited response to a similar question here: chemistry.meta.stackexchange.com/a/3734/402 $\endgroup$
    – Melanie Palen
    May 25, 2019 at 5:11

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