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I can't agree. Stackoverflow does some things well, but there are reasons that it hasn't caught on outside a certain cohort who were either there first, or who

I can't agree. Stackoverflow does some things well, but there are reasons that it hasn't caught on outside a certain cohort who were either there first, or who are very dedicated to cultivating their karma. HN user jfc said it better here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7650975 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7650975

wcarron 10y ago
I have to disagree. Those invested solely in cultivating karma are the reason to institute systems like "earned privileges". Any forum with a voting system will always be misused and abused by those who don't have the priority of the community in mind. Moreover, jfc has valid points about negativity and unhelpful responses, but it remains anecdotal. As a counter, my own anecdotal experience has largely been positive on SO, and I rarely run into those problems. I am definitely not part of the cohort that was there first, and think it's a rather fair system. For example, preventing downvotes until a certain level of reputation is reached is a small check on those looking to farm karma by blanketing out competing answers. Obviously it isn't foolproof, but it at least ensures that you have actually contributed to the community at least a few times. Perhaps his comment speaks more to the quality of the userbase than to the efficiency of the voting system?
- fnordfnordfnord 10y ago
  I'll grant you that there are many high quality answers / discussions at SO. I also have no problem asserting that SO is infested with karma whores. They also have terrible moderation, and chippy pithy users with all manner of unproductive discussion habits. In other words, they suffer the same types of faults as other forums. I'm glad for you that you that you've had a positive experience on SO, obviously some users do; so have I, to the extent that I don't bother engaging in discussion, but rather just use the place to find the answer I want, and then just leave as soon as I am done with my research. As far as the anecdotes in that HN thread I posted earlier go, jfc isn't alone, there are pages of similar anecdotes in the same thread in addition to plenty of similar criticism elsewhere in the internet.

wcarron 10y ago

I have to disagree. Those invested solely in cultivating karma are the reason to institute systems like "earned privileges". Any forum with a voting system will always be misused and abused by those who don't have the priority of the community in mind. Moreover, jfc has valid points about negativity and unhelpful responses, but it remains anecdotal. As a counter, my own anecdotal experience has largely been positive on SO, and I rarely run into those problems. I am definitely not part of the cohort that was there first, and think it's a rather fair system. For example, preventing downvotes until a certain level of reputation is reached is a small check on those looking to farm karma by blanketing out competing answers. Obviously it isn't foolproof, but it at least ensures that you have actually contributed to the community at least a few times. Perhaps his comment speaks more to the quality of the userbase than to the efficiency of the voting system?

fnordfnordfnord 10y ago
I'll grant you that there are many high quality answers / discussions at SO. I also have no problem asserting that SO is infested with karma whores. They also have terrible moderation, and chippy pithy users with all manner of unproductive discussion habits. In other words, they suffer the same types of faults as other forums. I'm glad for you that you that you've had a positive experience on SO, obviously some users do; so have I, to the extent that I don't bother engaging in discussion, but rather just use the place to find the answer I want, and then just leave as soon as I am done with my research. As far as the anecdotes in that HN thread I posted earlier go, jfc isn't alone, there are pages of similar anecdotes in the same thread in addition to plenty of similar criticism elsewhere in the internet.