Quora: Is this a bug or a Dark Pattern?

Summary:

Quora is indicating the number of "unhandled" questions and makes it cumbersome to dismiss these questions.

Detailed descripton of the interaction:

In the top navigation bar I find the menu point "Answer" with a red circle with a number inside. I often feel the urge to remove the circle by clicking to open the "Answer" tab.

Then on the left side I see three sub-points "Questions for you", "Answer requests" and "Answer drafts". I then proceed to click "Pass" on some questions I find uninteresting. This doesn't decrease the number, even if click to a different tab.

Confused and irritated I return to the "Answer" tab then click on "Answer requests". I proceed to click "Pass" on more questions. This doesn't decrease the number neither. Only if I switch to a different part of the web application the red circle disappears.

Conclusion:

First the number indicates the number of open answer requests and not "Questions for you" and second the number is not displayed reactively.

I wonder:

Is this done intentionally as a Dark Pattern to increase engagement time or is this just an usability bug?