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The Stack Exchange Network
Type of site
Question & Answer
OwnerStack Exchange Inc.[1]
Created byJeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky
URLstackexchange.com
CommercialYes

The Stack Exchange Network is a group of question and answer websites, each covering a specific topic, where questions, answers, and users are subject to a reputation award process.

A wide range of topics in different fields is covered.[3][4][5][6] All subscriber generated content (questions and answers) is licensed to Stack Exchange under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike (CC BY-SA) license.[1] Users can post questions and answer them. A voting system for both answers and questions is employed. Through this process users earn reputation points and badges. [7] By collecting reputation points users are given privileges, ranging from the ability to vote and comment on questions and answers to the ability to moderate many aspects of the site.[7]

History

The first site in the Stack Exchange Network was Stack Overflow, created by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky in 2008[8][9]

The Stack Exchange platform was first released by Fog Creek Software as a solution for third-parties to create their own communities based on the software behind Stack Overflow and its sister sites.[10]

The Stack Exchange Network began with three sites, StackOverflow.com, ServerFault.com, and SuperUser.com. Stack Overflow was launched in 2008[8][9] as a more open alternative to earlier programmer forums such as Experts-Exchange. The name for the website was chosen by voting in April 2008 by readers of Coding Horror. [11] On September 15, 2008 it was announced the public beta was in session and that the general public was now able to use it to seek assistance on programming related issues. The site deals exclusively with questions related to the field of system administration.

In February 2010 StackExchange 1.0,[10] Stack Exchange 1.0 was launched as a product sold to third parties to create sites based on the software powering Stack Overflow. Ownership of these sites is retained by the third parties.[12] In April 2010, Stack Exchange 2.0 was funded by venture capital,[13] New sites are created using a crowd-sourcing process based on voting.[14]

Criticism

Stack Exchange Network has been criticised for its voting, reputation, and ban system, and user antagonism. The founder Joel Spolsky recently invited on his blog to make the site a "welcoming, friendly place"[15], while continuing parenting users with a "how to be civil" indication [16].

Critics argue that up-voting does not always promote the best answer [17]. Questions are commonly answered fast without focusing on quality or correctness, to boost reputation.[18] Another argument is that answering a question does not by itself increase reputation, no points are awarded, which does not provide enough incentive for posting a different approach to an older question.[19] [20] . Finally, the reputation system may be not robust to user collusion [21].

Questions can be closed once five votes have been cast from a group of users that have gained this privilege.[22] Moderators can close any question without requirements, invalidating the voting system. A user has the right to try to persuade the voters for the contrary, however this remains difficult, since the subsequent judgement is to be carried out by those who have carried out the first and therefore it remains biased. Judgements upon the closure of questions are not always delivered with the same criteria[23] and this can lead to user dissatisfaction, nor are always in accordance with the community. [citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Joel Spolsky (2008-09-15). "Stack Overflow Launches". Joel on Software. Retrieved 2012-08-26.
  2. ^ Alan Zeichick (2009-04-15). "Secrets of social site success". SD Times. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  3. ^ "Spolsky's Software Q-and-A Site". Slashdot. 2008-09-16. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
  4. ^ Joel Spolsky (2009-04-24). "Learning from StackOverflow.com". Google Tech Talks. YouTube. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
  5. ^ Keller, Jared (November 18, 2010). "Stack Overflow's Crowdsourcing Model Guarantees Success". The Atlantic. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  6. ^ a b "FAQ: What is Reputation?". Stack Overflow. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
  7. ^ a b Jeff Atwood (2008-04-16). "Introducing Stackoverflow.com". Coding Horror. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  8. ^ a b Jeff Atwood (2008-09-16). "None of Us is as Dumb as All of Us". Coding Horror. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  9. ^ a b Dana Oshiro (2009-10-12). "StackOverflow Shares its Mojo: White Label Q&A for All". Read Write Web. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  10. ^ Jeff Atwood (2008-04-06). "Help Name Our Website". Coding Horror. Retrieved 2011-06-15.
  11. ^ RobinH (2009-09-27). "StackOverflow For Any Topic". SlashDot. Retrieved 2009-09-28.
  12. ^ Andrew (2010-05-06). "Stack Overflow". Union Square Ventures. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
  13. ^ Sarah Perez (2010-07-08). "Stack Exchange Uses Crowd-Sourcing to Launch New Sites". Read Write Web. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  14. ^ http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2012/07/kicking-off-the-summer-of-love/
  15. ^ http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/138173/etiquette-for-posting-civil-and-informative-comments/
  16. ^ http://www.cforcoding.com/2009/08/is-stackoverflow-losing-its-way.html
  17. ^ "Stack Overflow: Not Convinced « Johannes Passing's Blog". Jpassing.com. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  18. ^ http://www.brentozar.com/archive/2008/11/tony-davis-disses-stackoverflowcom/
  19. ^ http://www.simple-talk.com/blogs/2008/11/11/building-technical-communities/
  20. ^ http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-20035160-250.html
  21. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Stack Overflow. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  22. ^ Posted by spoike (2008-09-23). "The Collective of Chauvinistic Hypocrites (or How Stack Overflow Ruined My Day) « Battery Powered". Batterypowered.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
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