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Real question: Where do you go instead? Or, do you use Google to find blog posts with the answers that you need? I agree that the formerly-great Q&A site (tha

by throwaway2037 3y ago

Real question: Where do you go instead? Or, do you use Google to find blog posts with the answers that you need? I agree that the formerly-great Q&A site (that shall remain unnamed) has fallen from grace with terrible new leadership. The drama seems never to end. I vote to fork the whole thing and bring back Monica. :) For my areas of interest (plain old Java, Python, C, C++, and JavaScript), the search results are still good. However, I can understand that your areas may be in decline.

ChrisMarshallNY 3y ago
Oh, it's still fairly prominent, in searches, but I'm finding the answers to be less and less useful. It's become pretty much worthless, to ask questions, anymore. I end up answering my own questions. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, someone will throw in an insult. If I'm not lucky; without actually helping. I got used to the insults, as they usually came with useful answers, but that hasn't been the case, in quite a while. I tend to get most of my actual help from blog posts and Substack articles (even clickbaity ones can be helpful). I'm seldom presented with "the answer," but they usually help to figure out how to get a start.
- zerkten 3y ago
  Do you still tend to answer questions? It feels like there is a drop in quality contributors too because they got invested, but have peers engaging in the behavior you describe as a questioner. They want to take kinder approaches, but that's never going to win over that power user segment. I have a high reputation that unlocks privileges, but I rarely go back these days to answer questions. If I can snipe someone that's trying to shut down a question prematurely then that's kind of fun.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 3y ago
    I've asked about 2X questions to answers. I have contributed some fairly good answers, but I have mainly gone to get questions answered. Early on, I probably asked them badly, but I learned to ask them better, and the answers came much less frequently. So ask a question badly, and get an insult, but also a useful answer. Ask a question well, and ... crickets. Lately, I usually end up answering my own question, just so there might be something for someone else to find. I'm usually quite capable of finding the answers; just not quickly. It used to be, I would get good answers, within seconds of asking the question. Nowadays, I usually end up answering it myself, hours or days later. I used to like getting answers that were "done right." Many of the folks there, have a lot of structural and cultural knowledge, and the answers were often quite valuable; giving me advice on why we should do it this way. I may well find out how to do it wrong, left to my own devices. I didn't mind being told I was doing it wrong. We become right, by being wrong. Most folks with very high karma, have very few (usually single-digit) question counts (the digit is often "0"). I am not one to ascribe motives, but there must be a reason that invested folks don't want to ask questions on that forum.
    - throwaway2037 3y ago
      Early on, I probably asked them badly, but I learned to ask them better, and the answers came much less frequently. So ask a question badly, and get an insult, but also a useful answer. Ask a question well, and ... crickets. Lately, I usually end up answering my own question, just so there might be something for someone else to find. Incredible! This is exactly my experience. So many times, I ask a question, and either "crickets" (no replies), or some replies with zero up votes on my question. So... do they think my question isn't valuable, yet they take the time to answer it? Bizarre. In the last 2-3 years, my usage of the website has largely decayed to read-only.

ChrisMarshallNY 3y ago

Oh, it's still fairly prominent, in searches, but I'm finding the answers to be less and less useful. It's become pretty much worthless, to ask questions, anymore. I end up answering my own questions. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, someone will throw in an insult. If I'm not lucky; without actually helping. I got used to the insults, as they usually came with useful answers, but that hasn't been the case, in quite a while. I tend to get most of my actual help from blog posts and Substack articles (even clickbaity ones can be helpful). I'm seldom presented with "the answer," but they usually help to figure out how to get a start.

zerkten 3y ago
Do you still tend to answer questions? It feels like there is a drop in quality contributors too because they got invested, but have peers engaging in the behavior you describe as a questioner. They want to take kinder approaches, but that's never going to win over that power user segment. I have a high reputation that unlocks privileges, but I rarely go back these days to answer questions. If I can snipe someone that's trying to shut down a question prematurely then that's kind of fun.
- ChrisMarshallNY 3y ago
  I've asked about 2X questions to answers. I have contributed some fairly good answers, but I have mainly gone to get questions answered. Early on, I probably asked them badly, but I learned to ask them better, and the answers came much less frequently. So ask a question badly, and get an insult, but also a useful answer. Ask a question well, and ... crickets. Lately, I usually end up answering my own question, just so there might be something for someone else to find. I'm usually quite capable of finding the answers; just not quickly. It used to be, I would get good answers, within seconds of asking the question. Nowadays, I usually end up answering it myself, hours or days later. I used to like getting answers that were "done right." Many of the folks there, have a lot of structural and cultural knowledge, and the answers were often quite valuable; giving me advice on why we should do it this way. I may well find out how to do it wrong, left to my own devices. I didn't mind being told I was doing it wrong. We become right, by being wrong. Most folks with very high karma, have very few (usually single-digit) question counts (the digit is often "0"). I am not one to ascribe motives, but there must be a reason that invested folks don't want to ask questions on that forum.
  - throwaway2037 3y ago
    Early on, I probably asked them badly, but I learned to ask them better, and the answers came much less frequently. So ask a question badly, and get an insult, but also a useful answer. Ask a question well, and ... crickets. Lately, I usually end up answering my own question, just so there might be something for someone else to find. Incredible! This is exactly my experience. So many times, I ask a question, and either "crickets" (no replies), or some replies with zero up votes on my question. So... do they think my question isn't valuable, yet they take the time to answer it? Bizarre. In the last 2-3 years, my usage of the website has largely decayed to read-only.