10 ms·

Yeah, as an old-timer (started coding int he 80's), I find it more difficult to find the information I'm looking for in general, but especially on Discord, wher

Yeah, as an old-timer (started coding int he 80's), I find it more difficult to find the information I'm looking for in general, but especially on Discord, where the questions and replies come with much higher volume, and the signal/noise ratio seems lower. Trying to search past discussions to avoid asking something that's already been answered simply takes too long. Maybe I just feel the need to read each in the hopes I don't miss something? I generally liked mailing lists back in the day when people took the time to craft very specific questions and responded with succinct answers. The results seemed more easily searchable to find relevant threads, which I would feel good about reading in detail, or skipping entirely. I dunno... maybe there are just way more people asking questions or participating nowadays (regardless of whether it's in a forum, Discord, or Github), so the volume of information is naturally way up, or maybe it's our cultural shift to "more of everything in less time" (so people aren't averse to searching first and posting after not finding vs. asking something previously answered), but the end result for me is a feeling of trying to find the interesting conversations in a party held in a packed stadium vs. a party held in someone's living room.

willtemperley 3y ago
Yes on platforms like Discord there's a _lot_ of noise in the form of sometimes-relevant one line comments, not succinct technical writing. For those really at the coal-face, e.g. full time project members and people learning new stuff, instant messaging works well. For a mid-forties developer like me who's keenly aware of their limited time and resources, I need the overview. Some communities manage this well, e.g. OpenStreetMap provides a weekly summary. Participation and information are both _way_ up but I think the noise is really symptom of instant messaging.

willtemperley 3y ago

Yes on platforms like Discord there's a _lot_ of noise in the form of sometimes-relevant one line comments, not succinct technical writing. For those really at the coal-face, e.g. full time project members and people learning new stuff, instant messaging works well. For a mid-forties developer like me who's keenly aware of their limited time and resources, I need the overview. Some communities manage this well, e.g. OpenStreetMap provides a weekly summary. Participation and information are both _way_ up but I think the noise is really symptom of instant messaging.