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I agree that SO has an arrogance problem and the diversity appeal is pandering, but the "trash fire" characterization is too hyperbolic. The site is still immen

I agree that SO has an arrogance problem and the diversity appeal is pandering, but the "trash fire" characterization is too hyperbolic. The site is still immensely useful if suboptimal.

Karunamon 9y ago
SO is a trash fire that has some really great content down in the basement, [beware of leopard metaphor elided]. But the problem is the people on the ground floor that the average new user will run into are, to put not too fine a point on it, a buncha jerks. Great place for finding answers to older common questions, really awful place for asking new ones.
- Someone1234 9y ago
  > Great place for finding answers to older common questions, really awful place for asking new ones. It might just be me, but I've found it substantially harder to find good Q/As on SO for newer topics and frameworks. You ask about a technology which existed in 2014 and there are high quality detailed posts all about it, with different viewpoints, upsides/downsides, etc. But you do the same with a technology popularized in 2017 (and I'm talking highly popular stuff) and yet slim pickings from SO.
  - politician 9y ago
    I've seen that too, and strongly suspect that's because everyone that tries to post is beaten down by overzealous mods - so no one tries anymore. I don't. You have to perfectly craft questions to sneak past the fast-close and you-should-do-X karma farming traps. It's not worth the time trying to predict how today's trolls will close your question.
- deleted 9y ago
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yellowapple 9y ago
It's only "immensely useful" if you seek the solution to a problem that's already been solved (and actually solved, not just happening to share a few keywords with a different problem and thus marked as a duplicate). If your problem has not yet been solved (especially if it's similar enough to another problem to look like a "duplicate" to someone who does not actually understand the problem), then "trash fire" is hypobolic if anything (is that a word? It should be a word).
- mike00632 9y ago
  This comment is being deleted. Your account is downvoted and restricted from posting additional comments. Reason: "hypobolic" is too similar to "hyperbolic". Next time use the search function and avoid posting redundant comments.

I agree that SO has an arrogance problem and the diversity appeal is pandering, but the "trash fire" characterization is too hyperbolic. The site is still immensely useful if suboptimal.

Karunamon 9y ago

SO is a trash fire that has some really great content down in the basement, [beware of leopard metaphor elided]. But the problem is the people on the ground floor that the average new user will run into are, to put not too fine a point on it, a buncha jerks. Great place for finding answers to older common questions, really awful place for asking new ones.

Someone1234 9y ago
> Great place for finding answers to older common questions, really awful place for asking new ones. It might just be me, but I've found it substantially harder to find good Q/As on SO for newer topics and frameworks. You ask about a technology which existed in 2014 and there are high quality detailed posts all about it, with different viewpoints, upsides/downsides, etc. But you do the same with a technology popularized in 2017 (and I'm talking highly popular stuff) and yet slim pickings from SO.
- politician 9y ago
  I've seen that too, and strongly suspect that's because everyone that tries to post is beaten down by overzealous mods - so no one tries anymore. I don't. You have to perfectly craft questions to sneak past the fast-close and you-should-do-X karma farming traps. It's not worth the time trying to predict how today's trolls will close your question.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

yellowapple 9y ago

It's only "immensely useful" if you seek the solution to a problem that's already been solved (and actually solved, not just happening to share a few keywords with a different problem and thus marked as a duplicate). If your problem has not yet been solved (especially if it's similar enough to another problem to look like a "duplicate" to someone who does not actually understand the problem), then "trash fire" is hypobolic if anything (is that a word? It should be a word).

mike00632 9y ago
This comment is being deleted. Your account is downvoted and restricted from posting additional comments. Reason: "hypobolic" is too similar to "hyperbolic". Next time use the search function and avoid posting redundant comments.