In the thread Appropriateness of questions, Qiaochu says

"An issue which maybe should be discussed in a separate thread is that I don't think most newcomers realize that their questions can be reopened if they edit them properly."

From what I can remember, most questions that are closed stay closed. Does this simply reflect the fact that people who ask questions that get closed don't care enough to edit them and make them more appropriate, or is it possible that the option of editing ones question is available and that the question could be reopened?

The majority of closed questions come from first-time users who, I believe, never visit the site again afterwards. I guess there's not much we can do in that situation, but perhaps something should be added to the FAQ regarding the possibility of reopening.