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A question has recently been asked about 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' which has attracted a number of close votes (as off-topic).

Rand al'Thor points out that the current consensus on Lemony Snicket is that it's on-topic (see here).

I happen to disagree with this decision. Should I vote to close based on my personal opinion, or the general consensus of the community?

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  • I believe this sort of question has already been asked. – Adamant Jan 17 '17 at 1:49
  • @Adamant Great minds think alike. – CHEESE Jan 17 '17 at 2:28
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    You're abusing your ability to VTC to try to re-prosecute a case that's already been lost – Valorum Jan 17 '17 at 10:43
  • So you guys have answered my question as well by closing this as a duplicate. You're saying that I should VTC based on consensus, not my opinion. Thanks! – CHEESE Jan 17 '17 at 11:24
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    This isn't a dupe, but by making it about one tag, you've convinced people that it's a dupe. I've edited to make it slightly more generic and used my de-dupe hammer to reopen it. – Valorum Jan 17 '17 at 11:37
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I would suggest NOT voting contrary to known-to-you community consensus, even if it is technically legal to do so.

Why?

Because the end result will be the same (even if you find 5 more people who agree with you that community consensus is wrong and VTC, the question WILL get reopened, either by 5 more people who agree with community consensus, or by a moderator - because typically moderator votes follow community consensus as defined by Meta).

But you will, in the process:

  • Create extra work for people (VTRO voters OR moderators)

  • Potentially create bad feelings for the OP ("why are people voting against the rules? Must be a personal attack")

  • Potentially create bad feelings for the community (while it is technically your right to VTC against community consensus, it does feel a bit like a mean-spirited challenge to the community, from a certain point of view - even if you didn't mean it that way)

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    +1. See also my explanation on another meta of how downvotes reflect personal opinion whereas close votes reflect community consensus (or at least, that's the way it should be). – Rand al'Thor♦ Jan 17 '17 at 13:53

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