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There's an easy solution here - don't answer newbie questions. Their questions are typically less complex, which means some other newbie trying to amass points

There's an easy solution here - don't answer newbie questions. Their questions are typically less complex, which means some other newbie trying to amass points will take care of it.

silentbicycle 16y ago
Unfortunately, this can lead to a critical mass of really bad advice.
kleiba 16y ago
Yeah, that's what it boils down to - but I have to say deep down I don't really like that idea. Often times, the questions asked by people new to SO are legitimate questions, and not necessarily your typical "newbie question" à la How do I run a compiler? So I'm not talking about 101 or RTFM questions. We all started out as newbies at some point, but also, just because someone hasn't got a lot of reputation points on SO doesn't necessarily mean that they're a newbie programmer. I believe that SO should be a place where everyone can ask a question whether you're new to programming or an old-timer. If it's a thorough question it deserves a thorough answer. But then that answer deserves due credit, too - whether it's me or someone else answering.
- klochner 16y ago
  Send me a list of your orphaned answers and I'll upvote em (subject to quality review).
blahblahblah 16y ago
There isn't necessarily any correlation between the newbie status of the questioner and the complexity (or lack thereof) of the question asked. This is particularly true of questions in niche sub-domains of programming such as image processing or scientific computing. In these niche areas, it is relatively common to see newbie Stack Overflow users asking PhD-level questions (often poorly worded in broken English). The questions are typically not duplicates and the knowledge is valuable precisely because the expertise required to answer the question is rare, yet the reputation system does a poor job of rewarding the few experts who take the time to answer them for a couple of reasons: A) The questioner rarely bothers to give the answerer credit by marking the question as answered. B) The system does not allow a third party to mark the question as answered when the originator fails to do so. C) The people who answer these niche questions often only answer questions in their specific area of expertise -- they don't answer many of the more mundane programming questions that require little knowledge or effort to answer. Thus, despite the valuable expertise they've demonstrated, the reputation system fails to award these individuals with credit relative to the actual value of the information they dispense.

There's an easy solution here - don't answer newbie questions. Their questions are typically less complex, which means some other newbie trying to amass points will take care of it.

silentbicycle 16y ago

Unfortunately, this can lead to a critical mass of really bad advice.

kleiba 16y ago

Yeah, that's what it boils down to - but I have to say deep down I don't really like that idea. Often times, the questions asked by people new to SO are legitimate questions, and not necessarily your typical "newbie question" à la How do I run a compiler? So I'm not talking about 101 or RTFM questions. We all started out as newbies at some point, but also, just because someone hasn't got a lot of reputation points on SO doesn't necessarily mean that they're a newbie programmer. I believe that SO should be a place where everyone can ask a question whether you're new to programming or an old-timer. If it's a thorough question it deserves a thorough answer. But then that answer deserves due credit, too - whether it's me or someone else answering.

klochner 16y ago
Send me a list of your orphaned answers and I'll upvote em (subject to quality review).

blahblahblah 16y ago

There isn't necessarily any correlation between the newbie status of the questioner and the complexity (or lack thereof) of the question asked. This is particularly true of questions in niche sub-domains of programming such as image processing or scientific computing. In these niche areas, it is relatively common to see newbie Stack Overflow users asking PhD-level questions (often poorly worded in broken English). The questions are typically not duplicates and the knowledge is valuable precisely because the expertise required to answer the question is rare, yet the reputation system does a poor job of rewarding the few experts who take the time to answer them for a couple of reasons: A) The questioner rarely bothers to give the answerer credit by marking the question as answered. B) The system does not allow a third party to mark the question as answered when the originator fails to do so. C) The people who answer these niche questions often only answer questions in their specific area of expertise -- they don't answer many of the more mundane programming questions that require little knowledge or effort to answer. Thus, despite the valuable expertise they've demonstrated, the reputation system fails to award these individuals with credit relative to the actual value of the information they dispense.