this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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Stack Overflow has seen a substantial decline in traffic over the last year that appears to be accelerating. https://observablehq.com/@ayhanfuat/the-fall-of-stack-overflow

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[–] gencha@lemm.ee 62 points 1 year ago (2 children)

SO is a shithole, just like Reddit. All the work is done by volunteers. When it was time to cash out with the platform, they also did several things to fuck with their community. I've contributed quite a bit to the trilogy sites, and served as a moderator. I regret every second of it. But at least a few people got rich in the process.

[–] HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml 26 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I don't get why programmers, especially ones actually working on open source projects, insist on using proprietary services. Stack Overflow is one, also GitHub.

[–] pnutzh4x0r@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago

It's unfortunate, but the reality is that many of the proprietary services are... free, convenient, and where the people are.

Most projects do not have a lot of funding, so it makes sense to use low cost platforms with the least amount of friction. I think most developers are aware of the risks and trade-offs, but make a pragmatic decision to use these proprietary services b/c the benefits for them outweigh the costs.

[–] Aux@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

Because there are no free and quality alternatives.

[–] agilob@programming.dev 12 points 1 year ago

Because it's free and reliable

[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I used to go to SO and really liked it. I haven't been in a long time though and didn't know about this. What are your thoughts about Quora? Seems similar to me.

[–] Aux@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Quora is pure cancer. SO is still better.

[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

OK, do you have a suggestion?

[–] gencha@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

I don't really have any Insights into Quora. I know StackExchange hardliner always joked about the site and felt like SE is better. I joined that because I thought it was fun to feel superior, but I don't even have an account on that site