Timeline for answer to A discussion about closed (and potentially useful) posts on Stack Overflow by Peter - Reinstate Monica
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
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16 events
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| Apr 16, 2025 at 7:36 | comment | added | enzi | @Bergi "on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog. Or an experienced colleague. Or a novice. Or an advertiser" That applies to legitimate questions too. If SO wants to survive, it should open its gates to more complex topics that have no clear-cut answers. This is the stuff that an AI can't easily provide. It requires that the OP can count to 3 and form their own conclusions and carefully evaluate what is suggested. Questions about acrhitecture, the pros/cons of frameworks, what the merits of thech X are, etc. I find that valuable. Curernt SO is not very valuable anymore IMO. | |
| Apr 16, 2025 at 7:26 | comment | added | enzi | Have a +1 for "broadening the scope of permissible questions". I frequently find closed questions and can only shake my head, it's exactly what I was searching for but SO does not allow it. SO has over time become a site for absolute beginnesrs – how does string.contains work" – and questions that professionals deal with are banned. ChatGPT is the new SO, even I hardly come here anymore, because the questions I'm interested in are not allowed and AI can handle the newb stuff | |
| Apr 10, 2025 at 12:10 | comment | added | Dalija Prasnikar Mod | @Bergi Doc wiki format would probably be suitable for those. that way there would be no reputation gains for adding something and it would be good if votes would not be locked so people can change their vote with time. | |
| Apr 8, 2025 at 13:28 | history | edited | Peter - Reinstate Monica | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Apr 8, 2025 at 12:53 | comment | added | Bergi | @EmmaBee I don't think Peter is suggesting that discussions about IDEs, books, paradigms or libraries do fit the Q&A format. He's just wishing there was a site (maybe even part of SO) that did contain valuable advice about these. But really this is a totally different niche. It would need a way to distinguish quality from popularity (something that no site has really achieved to my knowledge). And even when it achieved that, it would need a way to distinguish recent information from outdated data, as opinions (and popularity) change over time. | |
| Apr 8, 2025 at 12:48 | comment | added | Bergi | "Why on Earth would I not want an experienced colleague's opinion?" - on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog. Or an experienced colleague. Or a novice. Or an advertiser. | |
| Apr 7, 2025 at 17:59 | comment | added | EmmaBee Staff | Appreciate the discourse here! @Peter-ReinstateMonica are you calling for a new model with broader questions, or suggesting they can fit the current one? Wondering if perhaps you could pick one example (like an IDE question) you’d allow and show how it’d fit SO’s knowledge base without clutter? Curious how you’d tackle @IanKemp’s tight Q&A focus, @KarlKnechtel’s universal utility point, or @JeffreyBosboom’s execution doubts. What’s your view? | |
| Apr 7, 2025 at 16:38 | comment | added | Ian Kemp - SO dead by AI greed | Downvoted because this just isn't a useful answer. Wishing for SO to be something that it's not is arguably the reason why the site is in the sorry state it is: it was at its heyday when it did one thing (QA) and did it well. Further, the desire to facilitate better ways of more deeply sharing information just isn't possible to realise within the constraints of text-based communication. And nobody has ever pretended that the QA format is perfect, but it's definitely worked well enough when it's been allowed to. | |
| Apr 6, 2025 at 22:08 | comment | added | Jeffrey Bosboom | I agree with the sentiment of this answer (it isn't wrong), but I downvoted because I think the company is incapable of building anything that will result in quality content of the kind you describe (so the answer isn't useful). | |
| Apr 6, 2025 at 13:09 | comment | added | Peter - Reinstate Monica | @pilchard Well, it says "add a comment if you think the post can be improved". The main reason one downvotes an answer is that one thinks it is wrong. A comment helps the answer author to understand where they are at fault, and accordingly edit the answer, or delete it if unsalvageable. Without that feedback, the answer author may never know what was perceived wrong. I understand the downvotes as "I don't agree with your opinion"; but I knew that already, mostly. What would be more interesting to me is why they don't agree with my answer. You know, have a discussion ;-). | |
| Apr 6, 2025 at 12:20 | comment | added | pilchard | @EmmaBee re: your comment "sorry for the downvotes with no explanation!" please see: Am I still supposed to explain my downvotes or not? | |
| Apr 5, 2025 at 20:06 | comment | added | Peter - Reinstate Monica | @EmmaBee No worries, I was aware that it was not mainstream opinion. | |
| Apr 5, 2025 at 20:05 | history | edited | Peter - Reinstate Monica | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Apr 5, 2025 at 18:53 | comment | added | EmmaBee Staff | I see your answer has gotten some pushback (sorry for the downvotes with no explanation!), but I really appreciate you sticking your neck out to say something others might not agree with. It sounds like you're challenging the idea that only narrowly-scoped, factual questions are valuable - and that there's a lot of insight, especially for learners, in hearing thoughtful opinions from experienced folks. I think there’s something to explore here: how do we make room for that kind of knowledge without overwhelming Q&A with low-quality or off-topic noise? It’s a tricky balance. | |
| Apr 4, 2025 at 23:33 | comment | added | Karl Knechtel | "...but equally valid answers would be..." no; that's simply not how the model works. OP's personal failings (if judged as such) are not relevant, because the question (as long as it meets standards) is for everyone who might need an answer. While there's some room to debate the extent to which we can make Q&A about best practices, it should not be used to close questions where bad practice is only an ultimate rather than proximate cause. | |
| Apr 4, 2025 at 1:21 | history | answered | Peter - Reinstate Monica | CC BY-SA 4.0 |