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Stack Overflow. Everyone uses it but everyone seems to hate the community. I very often read about someone getting down voted and they all say the same thing - "I have no idea why".

I have spent a lot of time moderating SO posts, which gave me a lot of reputation and medals. I find it fun to help people and it feels good to give back to the community.

I have asked a bunch of questions and I've never gotten a single down vote, which leads me to believe everyone of you that is constantly getting down voted are doing something wrong. Because the posts I see getting down voted are fucking stupid questions that either lack information or contain too much information.

Example 1:
Server java error

Why is my server not working? I am using Tomcat, port 8080 and I'm getting IOException.

Example 2:
Webpack configuration not working

My webpack is not a working, why?
[entire webpack config]

End examples.

What the fuck are you expecting asking questions like these?? No one gets paid for answering your questions, so the least you can do is write a CLEAR AND UNDERSTANDABLE question. I'm not gonna tell you how to do it because there's A LOT of information on how to do it.

People devote hours and hours to helping others on SO, and of course they get fed up with the stupid and lazy questions. That community is not about being nice, it's not about making people feel welcomed, it's about QUALITY OF CONTENT. No one is crying when they find a superb question + answer, right? That's the result of a community not accepting low quality content.

So please, the next time you get a down vote on SO - do not come here whining about it but instead take a look at what you have posted there and ask yourself if it could have held a higher quality.

Thanks!

Comments
  • 18
    I once asked a question on stack exchange about a formula for a circuit using multiple transistors. I got down voted by a guy because the colors of the circuit simulation software was "childish"... That was interesting. No one else had an issue with it.
  • 2
    I like stack overflow, it helps me almost daily but there are a bunch of trolls there...
  • 0
    I feel like this was an attempt at moderating devRant. If so, poor form.
  • 3
    Now this is a proper SO rant! Personally i've abstained from commenting on SO community since it helps me on a daily basis. But admitted, lots of questions i search, seem to be appearing have duplicates and they get surprised for downvoting...
  • 3
    I would like it if there would be an obligatory reason for the downvote though, instead of penalising the downvoter. Sometimes I see decent questions containing phrases like "why the downvote " and begin to wonder why indeed?
  • 1
    The community can be toxic - here is a link to one of my answers - in which I put a LOT of effort to answer a person who actually isn't going to be happy until you do the work for them. Then this gift to humanity comes along a year and eight months later, downvotes me because it doesn't suite what he think the asker wants (a canvas, which is one way of doing it, but not the only way and certainly not the key element in answering the question). My answer was actually just supposed to be a starting point for the asker, who needs to put some damn effort in themselves.

    LINK: https://stackoverflow.com/questions...
  • 2
    This post just feels like someone has read my mind and put my opinion of SO into proper sentences. Have some ++
  • 2
    There are assholes everywhere, even on SO. The infrastructure around asking and responding to the questions kinda bring out the worst in people since it's easy to feel like you're in charge and you have all these points. Which is total BS. It's all about the quality. To me anyway. There's always gonna be horror stories, but I think we can all agree that SO is a great place for learning.
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