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Why was this suggested edit adding the software recommendation tag rejected?

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The reason given for the rejection is:

This edit introduces tags that do not help to define the topic of the question. Tags should help to describe what the question is about, not just what it contains.

Doesn't the tag help describe the question?

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From my perspective, it makes sense that this tag request was rejected.

Edits (among other things) are supposed to preserve the intent of the post. As such, alters the scope of the post by deviating from the initial intent of normalizing MP3s. Note the tag description:

Questions asking for specific applications that perform a given task or work with a given file format. Give details about the purpose of the software you want and your minimum requirements for it.

While, yes, software recommendations might be a byproduct of this question, it is not the intent. Therefore, the tag is irrelevant to the question.

However, my own general rule for tagging can be summed up as follows: use as few tags as necessary. Meta.SE has been kind enough to provide their own tagging rules that effectively say use as many tags as possible, but ensure that they're all relevant. In other words, aim for five good tags, but don't stretch it out.

For a better example, look at this question. The tag is completely unnecessary and does more or less nothing to properly categorize the post. Therefore, it can safely be removed without making the question any harder to find. USB is relevant in the scope of the question (debatable, but let's assume it is), but it is not an important enough part of the question to warrant it being a tag.

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    "However, the general rule for tagging can be summed up as follows: use as few tags as necessary." : citation needed. In fact, I would say the exact opposite is true: the general rule is "You are limited to 5 tags, and you are generally better off trying to use all 5 of them (if there are 5 appropriate matches among existing tags)". So yes, don't add irrelevant tags but any tags that fits is good. Your USB example is indeed a good one, that has no business being there.
    – terdon
    Apr 27, 2017 at 9:18
  • I was only going to comment software recommendations might be a byproduct of this question, it is not the intent before you answered. Thanks for well described answer.
    – d a i s y
    Apr 28, 2017 at 3:40

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