I just rejected a deluge of suggested edits to add the 'agile' tag to a bunch of Questions tagged as 'scrum'.
I presume this was the correct response due to extrapolating from Does PM.SE benefit from having Specific tags for each MS Project version?.
Should the tag infos for scrum and agile be updated to not use both at the same time?
Or, if I was wrong, should they be updated to explain the opposite?
Users should be encouraged to use only the most specific tags relevant to the current question. If too many people are using both superset/subset tags on the same question, then the tag definitions and wikis should be updated to clarify proper usage.
Search on Stack Exchange is very flexible, so tags aren’t really for search. Instead, they are most useful for following or filtering specific topics. So, if people are searching for “agile” when they should be searching for “scrum,” then the tag wikis are not doing their jobs or clarifying the useful distinctions between the terms.
Subset/superset tagging causes filtering problems, especially in high-volume tags. A great example is the challenge of searching for pure Ruby questions on Stack Overflow. Many less experienced users there tag their questions with both [ruby] and [ruby-on-rails], even though most such questions are not meaningful Ruby questions because they’re very Rails-centric. Ruby and Ruby on Rails are not synonyms: Rails is a framework built on top of Ruby, but is a superset that also monkey-patches many core classes. Tagging questions with both terms makes it practically useless to follow the Ruby tag on Stack Overflow, because your feed is then filled with a never-ending stream of Ruby on Rails questions.
Instead of simply following the Ruby tag, experienced Rubyists are forced to create Boolean search queries to filter out Rails questions, making the tag close to useless from a UI perspective. While Ruby/Rails is perhaps a more extreme example, I think the same issue applies to agile/Scrum tags too.
In general, a more-specific tag is preferable to a more generic one. While there can be edge cases, a question about Scrum is not the same as a question about generic agile practices, so having both tags on the same question rarely makes sense. The reverse is also true: a question about agile-in-general might benefit from a Scrum-related answer, but is almost never seeking a Scrum-specific solution.
Questions should be tagged based on the OP's specific context and cognitive framework, not based on the answers a question collects. Tags should be informative and contextual, not aspirational or (in most cases) retconned.
There are always edge cases, so people should use good judgement. In general, though, generic tags should be avoided when a more specific tag exists.
Why would we not use both?
Tags are so people can find the questions they want to answer. Why would you not want an expert for agile practices answer your Scrum question? Well, even if you do, tag it only Scrum. Why would you not want a Scrum expert to answer your agile question? Well, whatever the reason is, tag it only agile then.
Want the power of both or maybe you are happy with a solution that is agile but not directly from the Scrum Guide? Tag it with both tags.
