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> They have a culture that really doesn't like asking questions, which is weird, as they are the raw materials of the site. I totally disagree! I have 50k rep

> They have a culture that really doesn't like asking questions, which is weird, as they are the raw materials of the site. I totally disagree! I have 50k rep on StackOverflow, and roughly a quarter of that comes from the questions I've asked (I have 213 questions, 166 answers). In fact, that is my favorite way to interact with the site; I personally get excited when I find a question of mine that isn't answered on StackOverflow. That said, writing a good question is an art. The impression that SO has a culture of not asking questions I think is at least partly impacted by the aspects of the culture that came into existence to deal with the huge deluge of really bad questions that it gets literally every second of every day. Then, even if you put in the time and effort to actually write a well researched and thought out question, it's not uncommon to get close votes and downvotes. This is unfortunate, but it also usually comes from a small fraction of users who see your question within its first 5 minutes of posting. Once that time has passed, and folks start arriving at your question from Google, the upvotes come in as a steady stream.

dpkirchner 4y ago
> Once that time has passed, and folks start arriving at your question from Google, the upvotes come in as a steady stream. Only if your question is common, and possibly common enough to already have an answer. That's rarely the case for me, and this issue is why I've stopped using SO beyond just reading.
ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
> I totally disagree! Well, I guess we'll just have to "agree to disagree," then... I have "only" about a 4.5K rep, but almost twice as many questions as answers. Most of my rep comes from questions. My SO tagline is "Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." I have become quite good at writing really good, well-researched questions, which usually get ignored. I generally end up answering them, myself. Instead, simple ones get answered; often with a somewhat passive-aggressive "slap." I've learned to ignore the insult, and still be nice and thankful for the answer. It's been a valuable resource for me, but is now a lot less valuable.
- stjohnswarts 4y ago
  There do seem to be a lot of angry individuals on there. It's usually on questions that if you have expert knowledge in an area you can answer without missing a beat but would require a beginner a lot of time to find out and it's not just "a google search away". I think a lot of people like to make others feel inferior and that's a huge personality flaw.
- darkteflon 4y ago
  I wonder what allowing paid questions would do to the incentive structure on a site like SO? I would be very happy to pay a small sum to get unblocked on a technical problem.

dpkirchner 4y ago

> Once that time has passed, and folks start arriving at your question from Google, the upvotes come in as a steady stream. Only if your question is common, and possibly common enough to already have an answer. That's rarely the case for me, and this issue is why I've stopped using SO beyond just reading.

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

> I totally disagree! Well, I guess we'll just have to "agree to disagree," then... I have "only" about a 4.5K rep, but almost twice as many questions as answers. Most of my rep comes from questions. My SO tagline is "Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." I have become quite good at writing really good, well-researched questions, which usually get ignored. I generally end up answering them, myself. Instead, simple ones get answered; often with a somewhat passive-aggressive "slap." I've learned to ignore the insult, and still be nice and thankful for the answer. It's been a valuable resource for me, but is now a lot less valuable.

stjohnswarts 4y ago
There do seem to be a lot of angry individuals on there. It's usually on questions that if you have expert knowledge in an area you can answer without missing a beat but would require a beginner a lot of time to find out and it's not just "a google search away". I think a lot of people like to make others feel inferior and that's a huge personality flaw.
darkteflon 4y ago
I wonder what allowing paid questions would do to the incentive structure on a site like SO? I would be very happy to pay a small sum to get unblocked on a technical problem.