The number of questions on Stack Overflow fell by 78 percent in December 2025 compared to a year earlier. Developers are switching en masse to AI tools in
I’m just using it as an example of what a Q&A site with inadequate moderation looks like. If you can’t see that then I don’t think we’re going to see eye to eye no matter how long this discussion continues.
By “inadequate” I don’t mean having room for improvement. I mean: lacking, weak, light-handed. By that definition, SO’s moderation is if anything, overdone, not inadequate. Personally, I love it as a technical resource, even if contributions are difficult to make in line with moderation policies.
But no my point wasn’t about a specific site, it’s about the moderation approach. Do you really think there’s no middle ground in approach to moderation between Yahoo Answers and StackOverflow?
Cute. Except Lemmy hasn’t helped me solve any programming problems. StackOverflow has.
And I think you missed my point, so I’ll restate it: If this theoretical middle-ground moderation were actually viable, it would have eaten StackOverflow’s lunch like a decade ago. People were SALTY about SO’s hostility even before the “summer of love” campaign in 2012.
It’s viable, StackExchange as a company is just shit. See: then never listening to meta, listening to random Twitter users more, and defaming their volunteer moderators.
Oh, don’t misunderstand me. I’m not here to defend stack overflow or anything. They’re absolute rubbish as a company. I just thought your “third way” comment was misguided.
But - codidact went nowhere. Reddit and now lemmy have never been helpful for my programming problems. What’s taking SO down is their deal with the AI devil? It’s funny in sort of a sad way.
You don’t think there’s any middle ground between the two? None whatsoever?
Of course there’s a middle ground, that’s much closer in my ideal world to StackOverflow than it is to Yahoo Answers or Quora.
Nobody here is suggesting for you to use Yahoo Answers.
I’m just using it as an example of what a Q&A site with inadequate moderation looks like. If you can’t see that then I don’t think we’re going to see eye to eye no matter how long this discussion continues.
Okay? But why? StackOverflow’s moderation is inadequate as well.
By “inadequate” I don’t mean having room for improvement. I mean: lacking, weak, light-handed. By that definition, SO’s moderation is if anything, overdone, not inadequate. Personally, I love it as a technical resource, even if contributions are difficult to make in line with moderation policies.
If Stack Overflow is a 3/10 then Quora is a 1/10 and Yahoo Answers is -5/10.
Well, no. If there were a middle ground, we’d all be using it.
Like Lemmy? The site we’re all using?
But no my point wasn’t about a specific site, it’s about the moderation approach. Do you really think there’s no middle ground in approach to moderation between Yahoo Answers and StackOverflow?
Cute. Except Lemmy hasn’t helped me solve any programming problems. StackOverflow has.
And I think you missed my point, so I’ll restate it: If this theoretical middle-ground moderation were actually viable, it would have eaten StackOverflow’s lunch like a decade ago. People were SALTY about SO’s hostility even before the “summer of love” campaign in 2012.
It’s viable, StackExchange as a company is just shit. See: then never listening to meta, listening to random Twitter users more, and defaming their volunteer moderators.
Oh, don’t misunderstand me. I’m not here to defend stack overflow or anything. They’re absolute rubbish as a company. I just thought your “third way” comment was misguided.
But - codidact went nowhere. Reddit and now lemmy have never been helpful for my programming problems. What’s taking SO down is their deal with the AI devil? It’s funny in sort of a sad way.
Lemmy isn’t a Q&A application in the way that the others I mentioned are.
Like I said, I’m not talking about specific sites, I’m talking about moderation style.