user1908: The reference tag is, in my opinion, a pox upon Anime.SE. 

One cannot be an expert on "references". However, one can be an expert on some related topics:


Some references are Japan-cultural and can be tagged with culture; some are puns/etc and can be tagged with japanese-language. Both of these are topics on which we have experts. 
Some references are to other franchises. For these, we have two options. If the asker knows what specific franchise is being referenced, the asker can tag that specific franchise. If not - well, we could tag it with hypothetical anime or manga tags, but this is an anime/manga site, so those are basically implied.
(Are there any other cases I'm missing?)

This tag is bad for SEO. If it were used consistently in all questions that are about "references", I estimate we would have at least 40 questions with this tag, putting it in the top 8 tags on the site and thus swamping more interesting, franchise-related tags. 
This tag is "meta-tag-like" (which is bad) - it cannot stand alone (and indeed, does not stand alone on any of the 19 questions in the reference tag so far). 

I think we ought to do away with reference. Thoughts?
EDIT (Dec 20): Given that there is some support for removing reference and no opposition, I'm going to start going through the questions tagged reference and eliminating the tag (plus doing whatever other cleanup is necessary) at the rate of 2-3 a day (so as not to swamp the front page).

user1908: reference has been slain.

user2604: It feels somewhat unnecessary and too ambiguous/open-ended in terms of what it could cover on its own - as stated above, for identifying something within a series, the name itself (and maybe some additional tags, such as japanese-language or tropes, should be sufficient. Moreover it really does seem problematic as a meta-tag.

user63: I don't see a need for such a tag. If you're looking for a reference within an episode for a series, all you really need is the series name. WE should also remove the parody synonym, too.

1908: <p>The <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/reference" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;reference&#39;" rel="tag">reference</a> tag is, in my opinion, a pox upon Anime.SE. </p>

<ul>
<li>One cannot be an expert on "references". However, one can be an expert on some related topics:

<ul>
<li>Some references are Japan-cultural and can be tagged with <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/culture" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;culture&#39;" rel="tag">culture</a>; some are puns/etc and can be tagged with <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/japanese-language" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;japanese-language&#39;" rel="tag">japanese-language</a>. Both of these are topics on which we have experts. </li>
<li>Some references are to other franchises. For these, we have two options. If the asker knows what specific franchise is being referenced, the asker can tag that specific franchise. If not - well, we could tag it with hypothetical <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/anime" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;anime&#39;" rel="tag">anime</a> or <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/manga" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;manga&#39;" rel="tag">manga</a> tags, but this is an anime/manga site, so those are basically implied.</li>
<li>(Are there any other cases I'm missing?)</li>
</ul></li>
<li>This tag is bad for SEO. If it were used consistently in all questions that are about "references", I estimate we would have at least 40 questions with this tag, putting it in the top 8 tags on the site and thus swamping more interesting, franchise-related tags. </li>
<li>This tag is "<a href="http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/08/the-death-of-meta-tags/">meta-tag</a>-like" (<a href="https://anime.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/403/what-is-the-status-of-meta-tags">which is bad</a>) - it cannot stand alone (and indeed, does not stand alone on any of the 19 questions in the <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/reference" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;reference&#39;" rel="tag">reference</a> tag so far). </li>
</ul>

<p>I think we ought to do away with <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/reference" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;reference&#39;" rel="tag">reference</a>. Thoughts?</p>

<p><strong>EDIT (Dec 20):</strong> Given that there is some support for removing <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/reference" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;reference&#39;" rel="tag">reference</a> and no opposition, I'm going to start going through the questions tagged <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/reference" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;reference&#39;" rel="tag">reference</a> and eliminating the tag (plus doing whatever other cleanup is necessary) at the rate of 2-3 a day (so as not to swamp the front page).</p>
 1908: <p><a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/reference" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;reference&#39;" rel="tag">reference</a> has been slain.</p>
 2604: <p>It feels somewhat unnecessary and too ambiguous/open-ended in terms of what it could cover on its own - as stated above, for identifying something within a series, the name itself (and maybe some additional tags, such as <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/japanese-language" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;japanese-language&#39;" rel="tag">japanese-language</a> or <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/tropes" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;tropes&#39;" rel="tag">tropes</a>, should be sufficient. Moreover it really does seem problematic as a meta-tag.</p>
 63: <p>I don't see a need for such a tag. If you're looking for a reference within an episode for a series, all you really need is the series name. WE should also remove the <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/parody" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;parody&#39;" rel="tag">parody</a> synonym, too.</p>
