Stack Overflow doesn't "require" it; it's encouraged, and people tend to look down on you if you don't. (Enforcement via culture instead of by rules.) Having

Stack Overflow doesn't "require" it; it's encouraged, and people tend to look down on you if you don't. (Enforcement via culture instead of by rules.) Having said that, given the amount of abandoned questions on EE, I don't think their patent is quite working for them.