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Rev

Re "end up with a small clique of users": I think that happens as well on the smaller Stack Exchange sites
– This_is_NOT_a_forum
Commented Sep 7, 2023 at 17:08
@This_is_NOT_a_forum I agree, but there they still tend to add value by giving straight answers to the questions posted, and they can't easily push out others who want to answer - other than giving a better answer!
– pipe
Commented Sep 7, 2023 at 17:26
7

I think you've missed that the question and answer bit doesn't exist without the support from the community; that's kinda the whole backbone of the Stack Exchange model.
– zcoop98
Commented Sep 7, 2023 at 19:33
5

@zcoop98 Wrong. The content of the question is what matters, not who asks it or what kind of relation they have to the unknown people who knows the answer. The same goes for those who know the answer to the question and decides to write an answer. Their relation to OP, other people here, or the company, has no significance to the quality of the answer. Joining is free and effortless, and unnecessary for reading. This is why Stack Exchanged prevailed over the old forum model.
– pipe
Commented Sep 7, 2023 at 19:48
18

Your description of the asker/answerer element of the site is accurate but it misses out on a lot of the core functionality of how the platform works. While many people are happy to ask and answer - there are many others who don't wish to create content but still want to support the site. These are often referred to as curators - people who vote, close, delete, edit... all extremely necessary tasks and things missing in many other platforms. Without these, I'd argue SO/SE would have failed. Thing is, that can get kinda lonely and determining how to properly curate isn't a one-person task.
– Catija
Commented Sep 7, 2023 at 22:28
7

So people who hang around form communities to consult with each other and determine some norms for the platform and moderation policy. That's where Meta came from originally (as a replacement for UserVoice forums)... and people have consistently found meta to be a great place for this purpose. These policies are a core part of the sites here and without community determining those norms, I don't think the sites would be as successful. ... and then we added Chat. The third place.
– Catija
Commented Sep 7, 2023 at 22:31
14

Chat is a place to discuss questions and answers, site policy and norms, and a place to just relax and get to know the other people participating on the site or network. Many community projects that make moderation and spam prevention possible wouldn't exist without chat and so to imply that community isn't a core element of the site fails to recognize that. Can you participate on SE/SO without any of that - absolutely! and many do. But to imply that it's not part of the site is to look only at the surface of the water and say that there are no fish.
– Catija
Commented Sep 7, 2023 at 22:34

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