Timeline for About all the things ideas one might try to promote hoping something might make it to the real world as a helpful solution to some problem
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
23 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jan 18, 2021 at 11:49 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
replaced http://blog.stackoverflow.com with https://blog.stackoverflow.com
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| Mar 20, 2017 at 10:30 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
replaced http://meta.stackexchange.com/ with https://meta.stackexchange.com/
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| Jan 22, 2015 at 3:49 | comment | added | 201044 | My own experiences don't seem to convince anybody when I say I have mainly gotten discouraging responses. How would you like it if most the ideas you try to promote (while having good intensions) get discouraging responses or for the few questions and ideas that get positive responses you never get ANY indication that the ideas will ever be used or developed.. | |
| Jan 20, 2015 at 8:24 | comment | added | Matthew Haugen | Not every answer will be used in every real situation, that's true. The only way you're going to find a direct link between real-world problems and questions here is by asking people. I can personally tell you that I've gotten a ton of real-world problems solved by asking and reading questions on a number of these sites. But I suspect my own experiences won't convince you either. | |
| Jan 20, 2015 at 8:10 | comment | added | 201044 | Showing appreciation is not the same as someone knowing their idea is actually going to help people , with real evidence of this. If I'm in the minority of user whose ideas are never used (up till now ,if ever) then it doesn't matter what your responses are ; the ideas I promote will just be brushed aside and any non-encouraging responses will be useless. IF you really want to help how can ANY user get their ideas used in real life and have REAL evidence of this , not just signs of appreciation? | |
| Jan 20, 2015 at 7:58 | comment | added | Matthew Haugen | And yes, I've seen your discouragement from the very beginning, I assure you. And I don't blame you for it at all, as I've said. I'd just like to help you realize that the silent majority are the ones being helped, and are the ones who express their appreciation at most through up-votes, if anything. | |
| Jan 20, 2015 at 7:56 | comment | added | Matthew Haugen | @201044 It's like I've already said, though--the best evidence of those situations are up-votes. I can tell you that in the last month, there were 970,554 up-votes and accepted answers on Stack Overflow alone, which very roughly translates to a million people who elected to show their appreciation, but there are a ton of others who didn't, or even couldn't (voting up is a privilege, so it's only for people with active accounts, a small percentage of visitors) express themselves in that way. | |
| Jan 20, 2015 at 7:54 | comment | added | 201044 | @ -Matthew Haugen ; yes I'm implying certain users on these sites are not supportive and I haven't seen much indication that posts here help people in solving real world problems. If post here do help that's great. With regards to myself I have written a lot of hopefully useful ideas and I haven't gotten much support and I have never gotten any indication my ideas will ever be used. I have never gotten suggestions on how to improve any idea I have written. So can you see how I find these sites discouraging? | |
| Jan 20, 2015 at 7:46 | comment | added | 201044 | All those visits to the stack exchange sites are great but that info. you are saying is vague. It doesn't answer whether there are many user who have their ideas solving problems in real life and get real indications of this. | |
| Jan 20, 2015 at 7:45 | comment | added | Matthew Haugen | Yes, I strongly believe that that's far from rare. I'm more than implying it, in fact. It seems that you're raising two points here: 1. people here aren't very supportive. 2. posts here don't help people in the real world. I'd love to work with you to understand my point on these, but it's important that we separate them apart. | |
| Jan 20, 2015 at 7:43 | comment | added | 201044 | But how often do specific users get an indication some of their ideas ,with proper development will actually help people or solve some problem in the real world? Are you implying it is far from rare? | |
| Jan 20, 2015 at 7:42 | comment | added | Matthew Haugen | According to Quantcast, an independent site that measures Stack Exchange's visitors, there were around 37 million visits from 24 million people to Stack Overflow in the last 31 days. Considering Stack Overflow has around 4 million registered users, it's clear to me that those aren't all internal users poking around for their own fun. I could tell similar stories about most other Stack Exchange sites. | |
| Jan 20, 2015 at 7:37 | comment | added | Matthew Haugen | @201044 I wish I could help you, but I really don't know where you're getting the idea that it's rare to help outside people. Well before I even knew about the Stack Exchange network, I was clicking on Stack Overflow links in search results, when working on real-world problems. Sometimes on sites I moderate I'll post a fictitious question just to stir up some thought, but even in those cases, the questions and answers can help future readers, whether in exactly the same situation or a similar one. | |
| Jan 20, 2015 at 6:46 | comment | added | 201044 | If it is rare for a user's idea to be picked up by an outside reader or group and developed into a useful idea that can help people then all these stack exchange sites are ONLY for the recording of questions and their responses and any relevant opinions. If this is true it doesn't really matter what anybody asks or how anybody responds. Personally if none of my ideas I write about in theses sites are EVER used in the real world then all I can do is try to pick up info. scattered here and there amongst all the somewhat discouraging responses. | |
| Jan 19, 2015 at 17:37 | comment | added | 201044 | If it is rare for a user to have their ideas picked up by some outside reader or group and developed into a real world solution that WHAT IS THE POINT OF THESE STACK EXCHANGE SITES? | |
| Jan 10, 2015 at 19:03 | comment | added | Braiam | "we'll likely pay a lot more attention to five comments than five up-votes" yet people wails about 1 deserved downvote. | |
| Jan 9, 2015 at 9:26 | comment | added | Oded StaffMod | @201044 - also, consider that most people will be vocal about the wrong/bad/not according to their view point, but will not feel the need to voice themselves when things are right/good/as they see it. That is - people who agree stay silent - it is those who don't that you hear (and who are like the tip of the iceberg - the 10% you do see). | |
| Jan 9, 2015 at 7:43 | comment | added | Matthew Haugen | @201044 That makes sense. Some users aren't as nice as they could be, which is unfortunate for sure, but if you can build up an awesome profile on Math, go for it! I hope you don't give up on other sites, but sometimes it's good to start off with one, just to get yourself really situated with the workings of the site and what it means to make awesome answers. Other users will calm down with time. But that said, don't overlook what they're saying. Some users are critical, but they're not always wrong. If they are wrong, ignore them! If they aren't, learn from it! Those aren't bad options. | |
| Jan 9, 2015 at 7:18 | comment | added | 201044 | What I call challenges are non-inspiring responses that try to indicate were I'm wrong in some important point and NOT in a helpful sounding way. I have received a lot of this also as user 128932. (A LOT more as user 128932) So I would NEVER try to answer any question except in Math. I ONLY have confidence in my math ability. And I can put up with any discouraging atmosphere ( even if depressing) because I have a 'hope' one of my ideas might help people. | |
| Jan 9, 2015 at 7:04 | comment | added | Matthew Haugen | As far as helping people in real-world situations, I'd welcome you over to the other side: answer some stuff! I know it can seem daunting at first (believe me, I know), but you can get the hang of it pretty quickly. Questions are great, and people can learn from them for sure, but it's often less direct. If you can answer a question that someone else has (and I'll just about promise you can), that's where you really get to feel like you're making a difference. | |
| Jan 9, 2015 at 7:03 | comment | added | Matthew Haugen | @201044 Yeah. Everyone wants to feel appreciated. There's no shame in that. I didn't talk about you specifically in my answer, but looking now, I see your top three sites: [earthscience] (where you've got two questions, +8 and +7), [biology] (three questions: +5, +3, +1), and [philosophy]. You have a few more zero-score ones on Philosophy, but that could easily just be because they're pretty new (only an hour old right now). Ultimately, it looks like your posts are pretty well-received all around. I'm curious of which "challenges" you're talking about, but I don't want to put you on the spot. | |
| Jan 9, 2015 at 6:56 | comment | added | 201044 | I know this sounds depressing ( and it is) but I have never gotten the slightest indication that just part of one of my ideas ever would be considered as useful in the real world by anyone , whether a use5 or an 'outsider'. I would like to help in many real world situations but you can understand why I feel my ideas are getting nowhere. Many of the responses I have gotten , the challenges, make me also feel I'm getting nowhere. I'm glad if your sites are working for others. | |
| Jan 9, 2015 at 6:42 | history | answered | Matthew Haugen | CC BY-SA 3.0 |