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Gotta echo this: this is absolutely the main issue I've had with SO. I'm not sure if this kind of stuff increase recently* or if it's always been an issue that

Gotta echo this: this is absolutely the main issue I've had with SO. I'm not sure if this kind of stuff increase recently* or if it's always been an issue that I only began to notice later. I'm also not sure of the cause, nor the solution, but it does seem to indicate a switch from one definition of "education" to another: 1. "helping" users solve problems 2. "schooling" users on what they're doing wrong * I say "recently", but I just checked and it appears I joined SO ~11 years ago and haven't actively used it in ~7 years, so "recently" is probably not the right word...

einpoklum 6y ago
StackOverflow is intended to be a repository of good questions and answers, rather than a service of helping people solve their problems. The latter is at most a secondary function - though an important one. The point is, the questions and answers must be edited and up/downvoted to serve future visitors wondering about the, more than to help out the person who originally asked the question.
- lucideer 6y ago
  > StackOverflow is intended to be a repository of good questions and answers, rather than a service of helping people solve their problems. Can you elucidate how these are not the same thing? In my mind, a good answer is one that solves a problem proposed in a user's question. A good question is one that poses a problem other users are / will also share.
  - shagie 6y ago
    Lets contrast it with a poor question as all questions that are good solve the user's problem... but not all questions that solve the users questions are good. Consider the question: https://stackoverflow.com/q/35647663 https://stackoverflow.com/q/35647663 The answer solved the problem (see the final comment). But it isn't a good question. The text isn't searchable. The only way I found it was by trawling through the NullPointerException duplicate questions. The question that I linked - it isn't a question that someone will find again. It is a null pointer question and the person who answered it hand held the steps to solve the problem. The person answering it was answering it as a service to the OP rather than a "lets improve the ability for people to find information." Look also to https://stackoverflow.com/q/26566648 https://stackoverflow.com/q/26566648 - the OP was helped, but was that something that is going to be found again and used to solve another problem? Or https://stackoverflow.com/q/26827621 https://stackoverflow.com/q/26827621 - the answer is the duplicate and while the person who answered did help, that question isn't something that is useful or findable. Its not a good question (try to find a search query in google that brings back that question). A good question: * states its problem well in a way that can be replicated * is findable by querying a search engine for the plain text error or problem * is written (often edited by others) to be a useful technical document Look at https://stackoverflow.com/search?tab=newest&q=is%3aq%20answers%3a1%20score%3a-1..1%20closed%3ayes https://stackoverflow.com/search?tab=newest&q=is%3aq%20answe... and consider how many of those questions are useful for adding to the body of knowledge and how many are "help me with my problem". And as that's a query for closed questions - look at the duplicates and consider "is that duplicate better written?" If a question is poorly written, difficult to understand, or is answered by too many different answers ("how can I optimize this code?" and there are 100+ answers) then the utility of that question to help other people goes down. Nonetheless, there are people who will answer it because it helps that person solve their problem.
    - lucideer 6y ago
      You seem to be responding to the following proposition: "If it solves a user's problem, a Q&A is good" which wasn't what I was saying. What I was saying was: "If a Q&A is good, it solves users' problem(s)"

einpoklum 6y ago

StackOverflow is intended to be a repository of good questions and answers, rather than a service of helping people solve their problems. The latter is at most a secondary function - though an important one. The point is, the questions and answers must be edited and up/downvoted to serve future visitors wondering about the, more than to help out the person who originally asked the question.

lucideer 6y ago
> StackOverflow is intended to be a repository of good questions and answers, rather than a service of helping people solve their problems. Can you elucidate how these are not the same thing? In my mind, a good answer is one that solves a problem proposed in a user's question. A good question is one that poses a problem other users are / will also share.
- shagie 6y ago
  Lets contrast it with a poor question as all questions that are good solve the user's problem... but not all questions that solve the users questions are good. Consider the question: https://stackoverflow.com/q/35647663 https://stackoverflow.com/q/35647663 The answer solved the problem (see the final comment). But it isn't a good question. The text isn't searchable. The only way I found it was by trawling through the NullPointerException duplicate questions. The question that I linked - it isn't a question that someone will find again. It is a null pointer question and the person who answered it hand held the steps to solve the problem. The person answering it was answering it as a service to the OP rather than a "lets improve the ability for people to find information." Look also to https://stackoverflow.com/q/26566648 https://stackoverflow.com/q/26566648 - the OP was helped, but was that something that is going to be found again and used to solve another problem? Or https://stackoverflow.com/q/26827621 https://stackoverflow.com/q/26827621 - the answer is the duplicate and while the person who answered did help, that question isn't something that is useful or findable. Its not a good question (try to find a search query in google that brings back that question). A good question: * states its problem well in a way that can be replicated * is findable by querying a search engine for the plain text error or problem * is written (often edited by others) to be a useful technical document Look at https://stackoverflow.com/search?tab=newest&q=is%3aq%20answers%3a1%20score%3a-1..1%20closed%3ayes https://stackoverflow.com/search?tab=newest&q=is%3aq%20answe... and consider how many of those questions are useful for adding to the body of knowledge and how many are "help me with my problem". And as that's a query for closed questions - look at the duplicates and consider "is that duplicate better written?" If a question is poorly written, difficult to understand, or is answered by too many different answers ("how can I optimize this code?" and there are 100+ answers) then the utility of that question to help other people goes down. Nonetheless, there are people who will answer it because it helps that person solve their problem.
  - lucideer 6y ago
    You seem to be responding to the following proposition: "If it solves a user's problem, a Q&A is good" which wasn't what I was saying. What I was saying was: "If a Q&A is good, it solves users' problem(s)"