What frustrates me the most about SO is that they've already solved this problem.
The crux of the problem is that SO is great if you have a clear question, and a clear answer. More often than not, this isn't the case, or what you're seeing is a symptom of a larger issue that is several layers deep.
Initially, Stack Overflow created comments, but these didn't really fit the need to get further information, except in the most basic of circumstances. To make things worse, sometimes the answer is in the comments, and not in the answers. A few years after, Stack Overflow added chat functionality, and later expanded it to allow private question-based chats, and while these are pretty much a localised Slack/IRC clone, they work well for their intended purpose.
What I don't understand is why this chat functionality isn't pushed by SO. Instead of simply closing a question as a duplicate, or not being clear enough, why not allow someone to request a chat, and to create a forum-type thread that can be attached into the question and answer. If the chat answers the question, leave it to the answerer to re-format the chat into a legible question, and offer to leave a doctored version of the chat for reference.
This doesn't solve the communities constant need to close questions, so I would also open the chat for further discussion around the decision to close. If the decision is overturned by a group of peers, like it is now, the people that first locked the thread should have to part with enough karma to re-open and add a bounty, so that the question is answered properly.
It's definitely a thing, other forums with similar goals suffer from this as well. For instance I know a math forum (not on Stackexchange) with exactly the same (implicit) code of conduct. It works really well if you have a sharp question and obviously invested some time yourself but just are stuck. And now you describe exactly where and why you are stuck.
On the other hand, if the problem is open, it's less likely someone else had a similar one before. In fact it might take quite some time to analyze it and for the helper it's not clear whether it's afterwards possible to write an answer that brings the OP forward. Thus SO might end up consisting of tons of unanswered questions or answers of low quality - because they are just answered by point seekers who don't care if it truly helps.
IMHO the best place for this is IRC, dev mailing lists or local meetups.
this is actually why I really like SO. Whenever you have a problem, you'll eventually find one comprehensive thread covering the solution. If they weren't so strict about duplicates or poorly formed questions, they wouldn't have such a strong collection of answers.
4 comments
[ 2.3 ms ] story [ 18.3 ms ] threadAlthough, I have to say, worldbuilding has some great responders there, and motor vehicle maintenance and repairs do too.
The crux of the problem is that SO is great if you have a clear question, and a clear answer. More often than not, this isn't the case, or what you're seeing is a symptom of a larger issue that is several layers deep.
Initially, Stack Overflow created comments, but these didn't really fit the need to get further information, except in the most basic of circumstances. To make things worse, sometimes the answer is in the comments, and not in the answers. A few years after, Stack Overflow added chat functionality, and later expanded it to allow private question-based chats, and while these are pretty much a localised Slack/IRC clone, they work well for their intended purpose.
What I don't understand is why this chat functionality isn't pushed by SO. Instead of simply closing a question as a duplicate, or not being clear enough, why not allow someone to request a chat, and to create a forum-type thread that can be attached into the question and answer. If the chat answers the question, leave it to the answerer to re-format the chat into a legible question, and offer to leave a doctored version of the chat for reference.
This doesn't solve the communities constant need to close questions, so I would also open the chat for further discussion around the decision to close. If the decision is overturned by a group of peers, like it is now, the people that first locked the thread should have to part with enough karma to re-open and add a bounty, so that the question is answered properly.
On the other hand, if the problem is open, it's less likely someone else had a similar one before. In fact it might take quite some time to analyze it and for the helper it's not clear whether it's afterwards possible to write an answer that brings the OP forward. Thus SO might end up consisting of tons of unanswered questions or answers of low quality - because they are just answered by point seekers who don't care if it truly helps.
IMHO the best place for this is IRC, dev mailing lists or local meetups.