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That's because Stack Overflow is not a discussion forum. It is, in fact, quite the opposite. Think back; remember the time when you actually got usable, timel

That's because Stack Overflow is not a discussion forum. It is, in fact, quite the opposite. Think back; remember the time when you actually got usable, timely help on a forum? Can't think of any? I didn't think so. Why? Because forums are flooded with useless, mindless crap, like users who can't be bothered to form complete sentences, who can't be bothered to do fundamental research or learn the most basic skills of their craft, who want someone to write their program for them, and who have an unbridled sense of entitlement. It's not the discussion Stack Overflow seeks to squelch; it's the noise. Unfortunately, discussion is one of the things that attracts noisy posts, so it's not exactly something that's actively encouraged.

Perdition 12y ago
I get useful timely help from forums all the time. I find voting systems tend to squelch most of the idiots on technically focused forums.
- shagie 12y ago
  The key difference though is that you got timely help from a forum by asking a question. However, as the next person trying to find the answer to the same question, I would have to wade through multiple forums with pages of answers (the answer you got was on page 3 of 5) with people asking clarification and the tangent from someone else (on page 2) about drivers I care nothing about. Stack Overflow was designed so that the next person with the same question could find the answer more easily. The next person could avoid having to go through Sun's Java forums, and CodeRanch, and /r/Java, and /r/JavaHelp and the comments of someone's blog post, and ... Too many places with too much tangental knowledge that wasn't well indexed. Despite the idiots and trolls having posts removed, With Stack Overflow, one knows that if they ask a question there (admittedly, that fits within the focus and quality guidelines) they will get an answer - not someone commenting on another comment that is indistinguishable from an answer (comments vs answers). And if they search Stack Overflow, and find the question that has an answer - it is an answer. That is the key value proposition of Stack Overflow in that the next person who has the same question as you do can find it easily.
  - Perdition 12y ago
    I only reach Stack Overflow from Google so its value to me in regulating answer quality is limited. The main thing it did for me was remove bad answer aggregators (expertsexchange and friends) from the front page of Google results.
dionidium 12y ago
Make no mistake about it: SO's attention to broken windows was revolutionary. But the system is out of control. For example, comments are now silently deleted because, as one mod told me, SO "is about content, not people." Anybody who thinks a site that relies on volunteer contributions isn't about people is so far down the wrong path it's hard to know what to say to them.
- bunderbunder 12y ago
  Sadly, I think a site that relies on volunteers to maintain the community standards is doomed to go down that path. The people who tend to rise in a site that's organized that way are people who devote the most time to volunteering for the site. And volunteering for the site means spending a lot of time reeeeaallllyy focused on a glowing screen. Meaning people who naturally rise to the top in such a community are people who've chosen to devote large portions of their free time to content, not people.

Perdition 12y ago

I get useful timely help from forums all the time. I find voting systems tend to squelch most of the idiots on technically focused forums.

shagie 12y ago
The key difference though is that you got timely help from a forum by asking a question. However, as the next person trying to find the answer to the same question, I would have to wade through multiple forums with pages of answers (the answer you got was on page 3 of 5) with people asking clarification and the tangent from someone else (on page 2) about drivers I care nothing about. Stack Overflow was designed so that the next person with the same question could find the answer more easily. The next person could avoid having to go through Sun's Java forums, and CodeRanch, and /r/Java, and /r/JavaHelp and the comments of someone's blog post, and ... Too many places with too much tangental knowledge that wasn't well indexed. Despite the idiots and trolls having posts removed, With Stack Overflow, one knows that if they ask a question there (admittedly, that fits within the focus and quality guidelines) they will get an answer - not someone commenting on another comment that is indistinguishable from an answer (comments vs answers). And if they search Stack Overflow, and find the question that has an answer - it is an answer. That is the key value proposition of Stack Overflow in that the next person who has the same question as you do can find it easily.
- Perdition 12y ago
  I only reach Stack Overflow from Google so its value to me in regulating answer quality is limited. The main thing it did for me was remove bad answer aggregators (expertsexchange and friends) from the front page of Google results.

dionidium 12y ago

Make no mistake about it: SO's attention to broken windows was revolutionary. But the system is out of control. For example, comments are now silently deleted because, as one mod told me, SO "is about content, not people." Anybody who thinks a site that relies on volunteer contributions isn't about people is so far down the wrong path it's hard to know what to say to them.

bunderbunder 12y ago
Sadly, I think a site that relies on volunteers to maintain the community standards is doomed to go down that path. The people who tend to rise in a site that's organized that way are people who devote the most time to volunteering for the site. And volunteering for the site means spending a lot of time reeeeaallllyy focused on a glowing screen. Meaning people who naturally rise to the top in such a community are people who've chosen to devote large portions of their free time to content, not people.