PSA: Purim Torah In Jest is just that - in jest.

Question

Purim Torah posts, I’ve noticed, have been getting a lot of downvotes lately. While earlier I had expressed this thought, echoed by ezra there, I’m starting to think it’s because not everyone is getting into the holiday spirit.

Going through the review queue, I’m seeing posts like this one getting flagged for deletion. A short post isn’t always bad - it’s quality, not quantity. That answer delivers IMO a great punchline to the original joke, and I see no reason to have it deleted. As of writing, nobody else has voted to trash it, either.

This post serves two purposes: to remind people to have fun and not to take anything labeled PTIJ so seriously (ahem, ezra), and to receive other people’s input on what else may be causing this negative reaction to PTIJ and what we, as a community, can do to help reverse it.

Answer 1

Answer 2

The PTIJ questions are supposed to be in jest, yes, but that doesn't mean they're exempt from all the other requirements of a Mi Yodeya question. Thus, they should include enough background info for people to understand the question; should be real, answerable questions; and should exemplify d'racheha darche noam. In addition, they should follow the PTIJ rules:

It's gotta be distinctly "Purim" (not serious), distinctly Torah, and distinctly Q&A. Purim Torah questions that don't have all three of these qualities may be closed.

So, post sincere-looking questions (you know, the kind that invite answers) that:

• misinterpret a real Torah concept or Jewish text

or

• apply a distinctly Torah style (e.g. Talmudic analysis) to an irrelevant topic

The requirements imposed on a PTIJ question are thus stricter than those on a normal question, so it's no wonder that it's easier to fail to meet those requirements (in the view of the voter) and to garner down-, close-, and delete-votes.

(Plus, people might downvote if they think the joke is weak.)

Oh, and the same applies, mutatis mutandis, to answers.