I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s noticed, but Stack Overflow’s user base and number of new visitors have been declining significantly over the past year or so. The site that was once the go-to hub for programmers and developers is now struggling to attract new visitors and getting less traffic.
Some potential areas to explore:
-
Giving more smirk replies to new users, making them feel unwelcome and discouraged from asking questions (after all, who needs new blood, right?)
-
Discouraging new programmers from participating by making the site more intimidating and exclusive (if they can’t handle the heat, they shouldn’t be coding)
-
Increasing the number of “RTFM” and “Google it” comments to make users feel like they’re not worthy of our time
-
Focusing more on nitpicking and criticizing questions rather than providing helpful answers (because let’s be real, it’s all about the rep)
-
Ignoring the growing perception that Stack Overflow is becoming too toxic or unwelcoming (it’s just a myth perpetuated by snowflakes)
Let’s work together to identify the root causes of this decline and come up with a plan to… wait, no, let’s just stick to our old ways and hope the site magically fixes itself.
box tester is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
1