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From Michael T. Richter's blog: Why I no longer contribute to StackOverflow.

The problems I see with StackOverflow are summarized in this list:

  1. Poor pedagogy
  2. Poor reward system
  3. Poor community

There are many looooooooooong comments, agree and disagree. I just wonder what is the "official" reaction of the SE team to this blog.

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  • 23
    Why should there be official reaction?
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 21:39
  • You are right. I've put that word in the quotation marks. I just want to know the opinions from the inside person.
    – Ooker
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 21:41
  • 17
    They don't respond to them because many of them make fairly baseless points because they're written in haste after some huge argument and just plain don't deserve a response. The random excerpt I just read from it had a completely non-factual remark in it claiming the SE team locked something because they didn't like it. It's locked because people keep trying to edit it and we're trying to prevent people from vandalizing it. If they can't even get their facts straight in their blogs, then screw them.
    – animuson StaffMod
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 21:50
  • 11
    Eh. Disgruntled user is disgruntled. It happens. What would responding accomplish? (Related)
    – Monica Cellio
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 21:50
  • meta.stackexchange.com/questions/222743/…
    – random
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 22:06
  • 8
    Looks like they're still leaving comments on SO. Which means they're still participating
    – random
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 22:08
  • 4
    I'm not official, so I can't provide that opinion. I can provide my own: Hogwash.
    – Ken White
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 22:35
  • 14
    He asked a question on Stack Overflow a week ago. Prior to that his last post was two years before his blog post. I'm not sure why he waited two years between stopping using stack overflow and posting about not using it, but clearly he finds some value in it as he turned to it recently, got and accepted an answer. Besides all that, it's obvious that several of his points (like the assertion that he'd be downvoted once the blog post was made) are false. Seems more like a "SO doesn't fit me or my needs" more than a "SO is, in and of itself, bad, bad, baddity, bad!"
    – Pollyanna
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 23:00
  • 3
    There was a reply from Jay Hanlon on 12/31 in the comments. Wouldn't that be the "official response"?
    – Troyen
    Commented Oct 23, 2014 at 0:06
  • 1
    Bit confused about the downvotes here. I think this is a perfectly valid (and mildly interesting) Meta discussion, even if the answer is "meh".
    – yannis
    Commented Oct 23, 2014 at 13:16
  • 1
    I dunnom @KenWhite; that sounded official to me!
    – Andrew Barber
    Commented Oct 23, 2014 at 13:48
  • 1
    @AndrewBarber: Only because I didn't use the phrasing I really wanted to use. :-)
    – Ken White
    Commented Oct 23, 2014 at 13:54
  • @KenWhite: I learn a new word :D
    – Ooker
    Commented Oct 23, 2014 at 14:17
  • +1 to bring it back up from -1. This was a valid question, and I think the -1 was simply to protest the content of the blog rather than the question itself.
    – tgm1024--Monica was mistreated
    Commented Oct 7, 2019 at 0:39
  • Looks like the SO Contributor of the Year (/sarcasm) has removed his blog. If he's so right why is his blog not available any more???
    – antikbd
    Commented Oct 17, 2019 at 3:34

1 Answer 1

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I don't know that we really saw that post until now. I mean, some of us may have? I don't think I have.

Either way, we don't tend to have an official "this is what SE The Company thinks" stance on various blog posts out there. Truth be told, I bet we don't even know about most of them. Even my response here, although I work at SE, is largely personal opinion. I don't think it's out of line with what anyone else working here would write, but who knows. There's 100+ of us at this point. Here's hoping we don't develop a "PR department" any time soon just to talk to our users and respond to blog posts. :)

But I digress.

I'm sorry to hear that Michael's experience was bad. Some folks love us. Some do not. We aren't perfect, we have a number of problems - some technical, some social. Our community-driven moderation model is both one of our strengths and one of our weaknesses.

The best we can do is move forward, taking advice from the community (that's why we have metas!) as well as guiding the community where needed (that's why we have a community team!).

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  • 9
    That's the most official unofficial response I've seen for long time. :)
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 22:25
  • 1
    I have seen Bill the Lizard comment on one of these blog tirades, but still, not as any "official" response, just as another commenter.
    – jscs
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 22:27
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    @JoshCaswell As a moderator, Bill can't respond on behalf of the company anyway. Nor would we want any moderator to always have to shoulder that sort of responsibility. They're free to respond (or not) as they see fit.
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 22:29
  • 1
    Well, that's a good point, he wouldn't be speaking on behalf of SE, Inc., but he could be construed (or present himself) as an authority.
    – jscs
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 22:34
  • 6
    @JoshCaswell Yeah. That's the sort of thing that comes with a diamond (or employment). Suddenly everything you say is seen differently. :)
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Commented Oct 22, 2014 at 22:35
  • @ShadowWizard: "official unofficial"? I official need to learn English again, in an unofficial way
    – Ooker
    Commented Oct 23, 2014 at 13:34
  • For summary, every model gets its strength and weakness. Capitalism, communism, SE, Reddit, everything. Luckily, on the internet, you can choose what suit you most.
    – Ooker
    Commented Oct 23, 2014 at 13:38

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