As a new user on SE, I shared the common new-user experience of questions downvoted, and closed, and the feeling of being kicked around by (well-meaning) moderators, and perhaps worse, the suspicion of being manipulated (bullied?) by more experienced users who know how to push an agenda without raising moderator ire.
A quick look at Wikipedia reveals I'm not alone by a long shot:
Trustpilot's page on Stack Overflow, the largest Stack Exchange, shows an average rating of 2.1 stars out of 5, a "Poor" rating. Although 28% of reviewers gave the site a good score, 69% of 136 reviewers gave the site a bad review of 2 stars or fewer. The website was accused by many users of having aggressive moderation that tended to exclude newcomers with lesser programming knowledge.
I'll spare you the vitriol of the Trustpilot reviews, but it ain't pretty.
There may be a good reason for the roughness, provided in many similar posts on Meta.SE (e.g.): This is what it takes to prevent the site from being overrun with lousy content. That's a valid point.
On the other hand, all this is clearly not good for sustained growth, and if another site figures out how to net untold new users they would squash us pretty quick.
Alternatively, if the issue is addressed properly it could launch SE to the stratosphere...
So, for what it’s worth, here's an analysis, then a suggestion, from the (in this case) valuable perspective of a newcomer.
Why the bitter newcomers?
In my experience, the bad taste came from the very welcoming tone of the site, contrasted with the blunt-force trauma of being piled on as soon as the first question is posted.
For example, a newcomer sees this:
Fill In the Blank Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for Filling in Blanks. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Anybody can ask a question
Anybody can answer
The best answers are voted up and rise to the top
With all due respect, this is a bait-and-switch. Because the tone is so very welcoming (this seems like what I was looking for, let me ask my question!) compared to the actual new-user experience (owwww...). The unexpected shock leaves a sour taste, and it turns many potential users into angry Trustpilot warriors.
What would have made it better?
If nothing else, improve the language a new user sees.
The US Navy SEALS don't say, "Anyone welcome!...Pow!" They make it clear it's tough to qualify. So a new user should be seeing things like "Anyone can ask a question, but expect flak till you're experienced!"
Even better, however, would be the following:
Let there be a New User Area (SE Bootcamp), where anyone new automatically goes first. There, posted questions are seen only by other users/moderators who expressly volunteer as New User Trainees (The Welcoming Committee). They commit to being friendly and looking to help. They provide the newcomer with suggestions, explanations, and welcomeness. At some point, the newcomer can request their question to be reviewed for release on the full site, at which point it can be voted on. After some threshold is met - of time, use, or successful question releases, the newcomer is cleared as a full user.
Hooray! No more bait-and-switch. No more nasty reviews. Everyone loves SE, new users soar, and content only improves. Unicorns are sighted above Alaska.
Since this posted, it seems from many comments/answers that the problem is known, and the fix is known - both by the company and the community. (This company blog post from 2019, and the comments on it by the community, brings it out nicely.) For some reason, the company has never moved on it in a real way - so don't blame the community.
Fair enough, with two follow-ups:
- Was there ever any communication from the company as to WHY there's been no movement?
- Isn't Meta SE the place to actually ask the company this question? (It would seem like it, because one of the tags is 'feature-request' - and who is that addressed at if not the company?) For example, on a recent feature-request:
So if company is silent, is that a way of saying, "Don't hold your breath?"