Stack Exchange Network

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It has been suggested that Stack Overflow sister sites be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since April 2013.
The Stack Exchange Network
Stack Exchange Logo.png
URL stackexchange.com
Commercial? Yes
Type of site Question & Answer
Owner Stack Exchange Inc.[1]
Created by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky
Launched September 2009[2] (relaunched in January 2011)[3]

The Stack Exchange Network (also called StackExchange) is a group of question-and-answer Web sites on topics in many different fields, each site covering a specific topic, where questions, answers, and users are subject to a reputation award process. The sites are modeled after Stack Overflow, a forum for computer programming questions that was the original site in this network. The reputation system is designed to allow the sites to be self-moderating.[4]

Contents

History [edit]

In 2008, Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky created Stack Overflow, a question-and-answer Web site for computer programming questions, which they described as an alternative to the programmer forum Experts-Exchange.[5] In 2009, they started additional sites based on the Stack Overflow model: Server Fault for questions related to system administration and Super User for questions from computer "power users".[6]

In September 2009, Spolsky's company Fog Creek Software released a beta version of the Stack Exchange 1.0 platform[2] as a way for third-parties to create their own communities based on the software behind Stack Overflow, with monthly fees.[7] This white label service was not successful, with few customers and slowly-growing communities.[8]

In May 2010, Stack Overflow (as its own new company) raised $6 million in venture capital from Union Square Ventures and other investors, and it switched its focus to developing new sites for answering questions on specific subjects,[8] Stack Exchange 2.0. Users vote on new site topics in a staging area called "Area51", where algorithms determine which suggested site topics have critical mass and should be created.[5] In November 2010, Stack Exchange site topics in "beta testing" included physics, math, and writing.[9] Stack Exchange publicly launched in January 2011 with 33 websites; it had 27 employees[10] and 1.5 million users at the time, and it included advertising.[3] At that time, it was compared to Quora, founded in 2009, which similarly specializes in expert answers.[3] Other competing sites include WikiAnswers and Yahoo! Answers.[11]

In February 2011, Stack Overflow released an associated job board called Careers 2.0, charging fees to recruiters for access.[12] In March 2011, Stack Overflow raised $12 million in additional venture funding, and the company renamed itself to Stack Exchange, Inc.[13] It is based in Manhattan, New York City.[14] In February 2012, Atwood left the company.[15]

Site features [edit]

The primary purpose of each Stack Exchange site is to enable users to post questions and answer them.[9] Users can vote on both answers and questions, and through this process users earn reputation points, a form of gamification.[16][15] This voting system was compared to Digg when the Stack Exchange platform was first released.[7] Users receive privileges by collecting reputation points, ranging from the ability to vote and comment on questions and answers to the ability to moderate many aspects of the site.[16] Due to the prominence of Stack Exchange profiles in web search results and the Careers 2.0 board, users may have reason to game the system.[12] Along with posting questions and answers, users can add comments to them and edit text written by others.[17] Each Stack Exchange site has a "meta" section where users can settle disputes, in the style of MetaFilter's "MetaTalk" forum, because the self-moderation system for questions and answers can lead to significant arguments.[18]

Notable parts of Stack Exchange include sites focused on physics,[19] video games,[20] and patents.[21]

All user generated content (questions and answers) posted on the Stack Exchange Network is licensed under a Creative Commons license,[15] Attribution Share Alike.[1]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Mager, Andrew (September 27, 2009). "Find the answer to anything with StackExchange". The Web Life. ZDNet. Retrieved December 16, 2012. 
  2. ^ a b c Swartz, Jon (January 24, 2011). "Q&A websites like Quora and Stack Exchange take off". USA Today. Retrieved December 16, 2012. 
  3. ^ Atwood, Jeff (May 17, 2009). "A Theory of Moderation". Stack Exchange Blog. Retrieved December 16, 2012. 
  4. ^ a b Perez, Sarah (July 8, 2010). "With Debut of Web Apps Q&A Site, Stack Exchange Perfects Automated Site Launch Process". ReadWriteWeb. Retrieved December 16, 2012. 
  5. ^ Clarke, Jason (August 20, 2009). "Super User - question and answer site for power users". DownloadSquad. AOL. Retrieved December 16, 2012. 
  6. ^ a b Oshiro, Dana (October 12, 2009). "StackOverflow Shares its Mojo: White Label Q&A for All". ReadWriteWeb. Retrieved January 1, 2011. 
  7. ^ a b Kirkpatrick, Marshall (May 4, 2010). "All-Star Team Backs StackOverflow to Go Beyond Programming Questions". ReadWriteWeb. Retrieved December 16, 2012. 
  8. ^ a b Keller, Jared (November 18, 2010). "Stack Overflow's Crowdsourcing Model Guarantees Success". The Atlantic. Retrieved December 16, 2012. 
  9. ^ Jeffries, Adrienne (January 25, 2011). "Forget Quora, New York’s Stack Overflow Is Killing It". BetaBeat. Retrieved December 30, 2012. 
  10. ^ Jenna Wortham (February 6, 2011). "The Answers Are Out There, and New Q. and A. Sites Dig Them Up". New York Times. Retrieved December 31, 2012. 
  11. ^ a b Needleman, Rafe (February 23, 2011). "Stack Exchange launches programmer recruiting site". CNet. Retrieved December 16, 2012. 
  12. ^ Ha, Anthony (March 9, 2011). "Q&A startup Stack Overflow gets new name, more funding". VentureBeat. Reuters. Retrieved December 16, 2012. 
  13. ^ Kim, Ryan (February 16, 2011). "Stack Overflow Rides Experts & Order to Q&A Success". GigaOM. Retrieved December 30, 2012. 
  14. ^ a b c Finley, Klint (July 5, 2012). "Stack Overflow Man Remakes Net One Answer at a Time". Enterprise. Wired. Retrieved December 16, 2012. 
  15. ^ a b "FAQ: What is Reputation?". Stack Overflow. Retrieved 19 January 2010. 
  16. ^ Ha, Anthony (May 4, 2010). "Stack Overflow raises $6M to take its Q&A model beyond programming". Deals. VentureBeat. Retrieved December 31, 2012. 
  17. ^ Popper, Ben (December 7, 2011). "Conquering the CHAOS of Online Community at Stack Exchange". BetaBeat. Retrieved December 16, 2012. 
  18. ^ Carroll, Sean (January 13, 2011). "Physics Stack Exchange". Cosmic Variance. Discover Magazine. Retrieved December 31, 2012. 
  19. ^ Popper, Ben (December 9, 2011). "Stack Exchange Growing 40 Percent a Month, Gaming Vertical Up 250 Percent". BetaBeat. Retrieved December 31, 2012. 
  20. ^ Singel, Ryan (September 20, 2012). "Open Season on Patents Starts Thursday, Thanks to Crowdsourced Platform". Threat Level. Wired. Retrieved December 31, 2012. 

External links [edit]

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