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StackOverflow totally missed the boat, and I think your idea isn't much better (because coding standards is only ONE of the many opinion-based areas that we're

StackOverflow totally missed the boat, and I think your idea isn't much better (because coding standards is only ONE of the many opinion-based areas that we're all interested in). StackOverflow could totally have had "poll your peers" questions, in addition to the fact-based Q&A that the moderators there prefer. They could have politely shuffled opinion-based questions to another area, maybe even another StackExchange site. In improv, you're always supposed to find creative ways to say "YES!" Instead, the Stack Overflow response to enormously popular opinion surveys was, "You're not welcome here!"

dragonwriter 13y ago
> In improv, you're always supposed to find creative ways to say "YES!" StackOverflow isn't improv theater.
- VikingCoder 13y ago
  Why do you always find a way to say "YES!" in improv? Because it's engaging. It allows everyone to create new realities, and for other people to explore use-cases that the original creator never thought of. I believe that kind of thinking belongs on sites like StackOverflow.
  - dragonwriter 13y ago
    I believe, on the other hand, that that kind of thinking defines a very different kind of site than StackOverflow. It might be a different kind of site that you would prefer to StackOverflow, but that's a different question.
    - VikingCoder 13y ago
      Right, I'm not saying the guys who run StackOverflow need to allow me and my opinion surveys on StackOverlfow... But the StackExchange platform allowed them to create Programmers.StackExchange.com, where opinion polls are welcome. EDIT: slightly more welcome, sometimes, maybe. If they had figured that out sooner, and had migrated questions from StackOverflow, they could have done a much better job at engaging users. Saying "your question is closed as off-topic" is totally different from "your question has been migrated". I commend them for the second, and I condemn them for the first.
  - gretful 13y ago
    and that's what makes /r/ so popular.
- derefr 13y ago
  I think what the parent meant was that, in business, you have customers, and customers want things. You don't have to do exactly what your customers say--allowing opinion-based questions directly on StackOverflow would be dumb--but every demand does represents some kind of unmet need that you could profit by satisfying, whether by adding features to your current service, or by creating a new companion service.
  - jackmaney 13y ago
    The users of Stack Oveflow aren't the customers. The users are the product.
    - VikingCoder 13y ago
      And by purposefully telling users to go away, Stack Overflow made itself less valuable to its customers.
      - EpicEng 13y ago
        Are you sure about that? One could argue that, by focusing on doing one thing well, they are more valuable to their customers, i.e., their intended audience. I happen to think things have gone a bit too far on the moderating end over at SO, but at the same time, I wouldn't want it to be a free-for-all re: anything that has anything at all to do with programming.
        VikingCoder 13y ago
        I don't want it to be a free-for-all either. Which is why I suggested: > They could have politely shuffled opinion-based questions to another area, maybe even another StackExchange site.
        EpicEng 13y ago
        They have other sites for that; programmers.se and codereview.se. programmers.se turned out to be a toxic cesspool filled with self important moderators and members, but codereview.se is pretty good.
deleted 13y ago
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jfhc 13y ago
It's not quite the same as what you're saying, but there is a "programmers" Stack Exchange now, which has more of the opinion-based questions: http://programmers.stackexchange.com/ http://programmers.stackexchange.com/
- twic 13y ago
  That site was started explicitly to take the questions rejected by StackOverflow. In an early incarnation, it was going to be called "Not Programming Related", from one of the popular close reasons on SO. However, over time, it has been affected by the same ossification as StackOverflow. Quoting the 'about' page [1]: Not all questions work well in our format. Avoid questions that are primarily opinion-based, or that are likely to generate discussion rather than answers. Don't ask about... * general workplace issues, office politics, etc. * implementation issues or programming tools * Anything not directly related to software development * Questions that are primarily opinion-based * Questions with too many possible answers or that would require an extremely long answer Fair enough on the office politics, and implementation issues and tools presumably belong on StackOverflow, but it's the peripheral subjects, opinions, and (gasp!) complex and open-ended issues that the site was originally created to handle. They are now forbidden there. [1] http://programmers.stackexchange.com/about http://programmers.stackexchange.com/about

dragonwriter 13y ago

> In improv, you're always supposed to find creative ways to say "YES!" StackOverflow isn't improv theater.

VikingCoder 13y ago
Why do you always find a way to say "YES!" in improv? Because it's engaging. It allows everyone to create new realities, and for other people to explore use-cases that the original creator never thought of. I believe that kind of thinking belongs on sites like StackOverflow.
- dragonwriter 13y ago
  I believe, on the other hand, that that kind of thinking defines a very different kind of site than StackOverflow. It might be a different kind of site that you would prefer to StackOverflow, but that's a different question.
  - VikingCoder 13y ago
    Right, I'm not saying the guys who run StackOverflow need to allow me and my opinion surveys on StackOverlfow... But the StackExchange platform allowed them to create Programmers.StackExchange.com, where opinion polls are welcome. EDIT: slightly more welcome, sometimes, maybe. If they had figured that out sooner, and had migrated questions from StackOverflow, they could have done a much better job at engaging users. Saying "your question is closed as off-topic" is totally different from "your question has been migrated". I commend them for the second, and I condemn them for the first.
- gretful 13y ago
  and that's what makes /r/ so popular.
derefr 13y ago
I think what the parent meant was that, in business, you have customers, and customers want things. You don't have to do exactly what your customers say--allowing opinion-based questions directly on StackOverflow would be dumb--but every demand does represents some kind of unmet need that you could profit by satisfying, whether by adding features to your current service, or by creating a new companion service.
- jackmaney 13y ago
  The users of Stack Oveflow aren't the customers. The users are the product.
  - VikingCoder 13y ago
    And by purposefully telling users to go away, Stack Overflow made itself less valuable to its customers.
    - EpicEng 13y ago
      Are you sure about that? One could argue that, by focusing on doing one thing well, they are more valuable to their customers, i.e., their intended audience. I happen to think things have gone a bit too far on the moderating end over at SO, but at the same time, I wouldn't want it to be a free-for-all re: anything that has anything at all to do with programming.
      - VikingCoder 13y ago
        I don't want it to be a free-for-all either. Which is why I suggested: > They could have politely shuffled opinion-based questions to another area, maybe even another StackExchange site.
        EpicEng 13y ago
        They have other sites for that; programmers.se and codereview.se. programmers.se turned out to be a toxic cesspool filled with self important moderators and members, but codereview.se is pretty good.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

jfhc 13y ago

It's not quite the same as what you're saying, but there is a "programmers" Stack Exchange now, which has more of the opinion-based questions: http://programmers.stackexchange.com/ http://programmers.stackexchange.com/

twic 13y ago
That site was started explicitly to take the questions rejected by StackOverflow. In an early incarnation, it was going to be called "Not Programming Related", from one of the popular close reasons on SO. However, over time, it has been affected by the same ossification as StackOverflow. Quoting the 'about' page [1]: Not all questions work well in our format. Avoid questions that are primarily opinion-based, or that are likely to generate discussion rather than answers. Don't ask about... * general workplace issues, office politics, etc. * implementation issues or programming tools * Anything not directly related to software development * Questions that are primarily opinion-based * Questions with too many possible answers or that would require an extremely long answer Fair enough on the office politics, and implementation issues and tools presumably belong on StackOverflow, but it's the peripheral subjects, opinions, and (gasp!) complex and open-ended issues that the site was originally created to handle. They are now forbidden there. [1] http://programmers.stackexchange.com/about http://programmers.stackexchange.com/about