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I don't think this problem is as big as people make out. There definitely are the asshole types (unfortunately, a lot fo them are the helpful people after they

by Latty 11y ago

I don't think this problem is as big as people make out. There definitely are the asshole types (unfortunately, a lot fo them are the helpful people after they got burnt out trying to feed the help vampires). There is a middle ground. There is a need to get rid of low quality content or content that doesn't fit on SO - if you remember the time before SO, you remember the experience of wading through the piles of rubbish and nothing that was forums and resources for programmers of the past. The reason SO is different to those and better is because they know what type of content works on the site, and they intentionally limit the site. The right answer is to try and help those people who post the wrong stuff in a nice way (point them at the right places, explain the issue), move on quickly, and answer good questions.

crispyambulance 11y ago
> The right answer is to try and help those people who post the wrong stuff in a nice way (point them at the right places, explain the issue), move on quickly, and answer good questions. Indeed, I wish that behavior was more common on SO. Unfortunately, smug remarks, closure and downvotes are the norm. This might be understandable for questions which are clearly ill-conceived, but it happens to ernest, sincere questions as well.
- Latty 11y ago
  To be fair, they have been cracking down on those kinds of comments - there are even filters that stop you posting certain common toxic comments. It's not perfect, but they are pushing the culture away from that as much as they can. It's worth noting closure isn't always a negative thing - questions closed as a duplicate give the asker an answer and work as pointers for others.