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There is a recent post on MO that includes two new tags: Beer and Bet! The problems of these two tags aside, I don't think it is a good practice to add new tags unless it is absolutely necessary. Is it possible to add a feature in which a number of MOers (for example, three users) should agree with the introduction of a new tag before its use?

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Such a system would be technically impossible since we can't delay posting a question until tags have been approved. However, this is not a serious problem:

  • Only users with at least 300 points can create new tags.
  • Users are quick to delete inappropriate tags from posts.
  • Unused tags get purged in 24 hours; single use tags get deleted after 6 months.
  • Moderators and some users regularly check newly created tags for problematic cases.

There is no need for additional measures.

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    $\begingroup$ I do not think it is technically impossible. One could have something like a pending-tag which can be used right away but if not approved "self-destructs" after some fixed time. (One would just need to ensure there must be a stable tag, not only pending ones, on each question to avoid many untagged questions.) But I agreee it might not be worth the effort. $\endgroup$
    – user9072
    Commented Sep 24, 2013 at 22:41
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    $\begingroup$ @quid That's worse than the current system. It's much better to steer someone into using lo.logic+forcing rather than having lo.logic+mathias-forcing degenerate into lo.logic alone because mathias-forcing was deemed too specific by someone. $\endgroup$
    – François G. Dorais Mod
    Commented Sep 24, 2013 at 22:52
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    $\begingroup$ Also infrequently used tags with only 1 (or 2?) questions get cleaned up every year(?) if I remember correctly. $\endgroup$
    – Kaveh
    Commented Sep 24, 2013 at 23:31
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    $\begingroup$ Well, if one wants to develop on the idea, one could have the approval/disaproval process contain an option to suggest merge/synonym, so that this steering would be built-in. @Kaveh yes this exists, it is single used tags and after 6 months. $\endgroup$
    – user9072
    Commented Sep 25, 2013 at 8:12
  • $\begingroup$ A minor clarification of one of the bullet points. A tag used only on one question is removed (after a certain time period) unless the tag-wiki was created for the tag. $\endgroup$
    – Martin Sleziak
    Commented Oct 9, 2018 at 23:48

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