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shariff
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9 months ago
in StackOverflow is SpiritUnderflow - A plea to not deprioritise content and spirit on /var/log/mind
So to summarize this post in 2 lines, these are the 'cons' of StackOverflow:
1. the information architecture is not brilliant
2. the discussions lack of spirit
For 1, that's a personal opinion, which I share, but eh that's a new service, it's difficult to get everything right the first time, especially if you can't afford to work with a great IA. (Aside: I am not in favor of an alternative skin though, they should rework the real estate of the elements on the page for everybody's sake.)
For 2, let's have a look at why a developer would want to interact with another developer in the first place:
- share some useful findings/information
- express an opinion / learn about other people's opinions
- ask for help when you struggle with something / help back
My theory is that there is a shift where blogs are increasingly used to fulfill the first 2 actions. Because, with blogs like yours, developers express themselves with a richer medium and at the same time they follow opinions and experiences of peers they esteem (avoiding the joy of trolls and so on). Now remains the 3rd action which still happens in forums but StackOverflow fulfills this task specifically and with effectiveness, as said Anjo. So, again IMO, the lack of spirit has a correlation with the voting system but it is not a cause-effect relation, the nature of the app itself is the real cause.
1. the information architecture is not brilliant
2. the discussions lack of spirit
For 1, that's a personal opinion, which I share, but eh that's a new service, it's difficult to get everything right the first time, especially if you can't afford to work with a great IA. (Aside: I am not in favor of an alternative skin though, they should rework the real estate of the elements on the page for everybody's sake.)
For 2, let's have a look at why a developer would want to interact with another developer in the first place:
- share some useful findings/information
- express an opinion / learn about other people's opinions
- ask for help when you struggle with something / help back
My theory is that there is a shift where blogs are increasingly used to fulfill the first 2 actions. Because, with blogs like yours, developers express themselves with a richer medium and at the same time they follow opinions and experiences of peers they esteem (avoiding the joy of trolls and so on). Now remains the 3rd action which still happens in forums but StackOverflow fulfills this task specifically and with effectiveness, as said Anjo. So, again IMO, the lack of spirit has a correlation with the voting system but it is not a cause-effect relation, the nature of the app itself is the real cause.
1 reply
Very apt observations. I largely concur. The only remark I would still make is that even under the app objectives and and format, there is a potential for a much greater spirited discussions.