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During an edit I removed a newly-hatched tag from Is it true that “ Shower meteors always come in spurts separated by spells of inactivity that can last up to a few minutes” Since the OP put it back again and I don't want to get into an edit war, let's think about it here in meta, where there is a rich tradition of discussing the pros and cons of new tags.

The probem I see with a specific tag about "debunking" is that it opens up a whole category of low quality questions, where any suboptimal wording, like "always" instead of "often seems to" is the source of another question with little or no long-term value.

Now I have probably asked a few "debunk" questions myself in each SE site, for example here in Astronomy SE:

One led to the fixing of a bug in a website, another led to the correction of a paper between preprint and publication.

And in related SE sites:

I'm not questioning that an occasional question that calls into question something that's been written is OK, and no question about it; I ask those potentially questionable questions myself!

It's just that if we make a tag for "debunking" here in Astronomy SE, then it seems to me to invite a much higher rate of relatively low-quality questions here in Astronomy SE with little short-term OR long-term value from their answers.

Real debunking is usually asked in Skeptics SE and they can be on any topic - including Astronomy.

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    $\begingroup$ I agree. Real debunking goes to skeptics. Bad, low quality debunking goes in the garbage. hence no need for the tag here. $\endgroup$
    – James K
    Commented Aug 11 at 9:26
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    $\begingroup$ Would a misconception tag be better $\endgroup$
    – Harrychink
    Commented Aug 11 at 9:41
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    $\begingroup$ I don’t see how my question was low quality as my main concern is not with the word always but rather with the premise that shower meteors come in bursts $\endgroup$
    – Harrychink
    Commented Aug 11 at 9:43
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    $\begingroup$ @Harrychink Sorry! I didn't mean to imply that your question was low quality, only that the existence of the tag may make some question-askers feel that it semi-legitimizes their question about any possible editorial error in any popular astronomy website or blog. $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Aug 11 at 10:04
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    $\begingroup$ Great call going to Meta with this and not engaging in tit-for-tat. It would be hard to justify closing flat earth nonsense, all the UFO stuff and every other crackpot theory if all the poster had to do was tag it "debunk". $\endgroup$
    – StephenG - Help Ukraine
    Commented Aug 18 at 21:45

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I do not think we need a 'debunk' tag.

From Meriam-Webster, to debunk is: "to expose the sham or falseness of". I think a 'debunk' tab is unnecessarily presumptuous and perhaps a bit derogatory. Many of us wouldn't take it well if we were told one of our ideas was 'bunk' without an authoritative citation. If a belief or widely held position is actually a sham, then a well-posed question should expose it without such a tag.

If we believe in Astronomy Stack Exchange, the answers and votes should sort it out. If you think someone is trying to sell snake-oil like flat-earth, take it to the Skeptics SE.

If we reach a consensus on this question, I'll help implement it.

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    $\begingroup$ My initial reaction to reading this question is exactly this answer: no. I'm not an astronomer by any stretch of the word, but I can see a "debunk" tag being a challenge to the community to provide evidence that someone's false beliefs are false when the OP believes them to be true. I think that plays to the derogatory tone of the word "debunk." --- "The earth is flat. I am right because (non-scientific) A, B and C. Prove I am wrong, and I will be the judge of whether you are right by withholding the green checkmark since I am not convinced!" $\endgroup$
    – Greg Burghardt
    Commented Aug 16 at 18:11

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