you can’t easily ask a question without having it downvoted, marked as duplicate, or commented on in a negative way I wouldn't really agree. If the question

you can’t easily ask a question without having it downvoted, marked as duplicate, or commented on in a negative way I wouldn't really agree. If the question is clear and even if it is a FAQ, then you'd not receive answers but also upvotes (for posting a FAQ) especially in popular tags such as python, regex, java. That said, there are several other problems with SO: - too many poor quality questions - too many poor quality accepted and highly upvoted answers - activity in a limited number of tags - the reputation (apparently virtual bitcoins) cause the overall answer quality to decline (search for "Fastest gun in the west problem" on meta SE)