Revision as of 07:58, 4 December 2012 editManishearth (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers5,689 edits →Suspension policy: The system does have a concise rebuttal process, in the fors of replies to moderator messages. One can escalate the problem to Meta if needed.← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 12:06, 21 November 2024 edit undoClueBot NG (talk | contribs)Bots, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers6,439,396 editsm Reverting possible vandalism by Jamesedwinokeefe2 to version by Hym3242. Report False Positive? Thanks, ClueBot NG. (4359501) (Bot)Tag: Rollback | ||
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{{Distinguish|Stock Exchange}} | |||
{{Multiple issues|lead too short = July 2012|primarysources = July 2012|peacock = January 2012}} | |||
{{Short description|Network of Q&A sites based in New York City}} | |||
{{Infobox Website | |||
{{About|the network of collaborative Q&A sites|the first site in the network|Stack Overflow}} | |||
| name = The Stack Exchange Network | |||
{{Redirect|Super User|a user account with special privileges|superuser}} | |||
| logo = ] | |||
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}} | |||
| url = {{URL|http://stackexchange.com/}} | |||
{{Infobox website | |||
| commercial = Yes | |||
| name = Stack Exchange Network | |||
| type = ] | |||
| logo = Stack Exchange logo and wordmark.svg | |||
| owner = Stack Exchange Inc.<ref name="stackoverflow_legal">{{cite web |title = Legal |url = http://stackexchange.com/legal |publisher = Stack Exchange |date = 2010-06-08 |accessdate = 2012-01-02 |work = Stack Overflow}}</ref> | |||
| url = {{Official URL}} | |||
| author = ] and ] | |||
| commercial = Yes | |||
| launch date= September 15, 2008<ref name=launches>{{cite web |accessdate=2012-08-26 |url=http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/09/15.html |title=Stack Overflow Launches |author=Joel Spolsky |date=2008-09-15 |publisher=Joel on Software }}</ref> | |||
| type = {{ubl|]|]}} | |||
| registration = Yes | |||
| content_license = User contributions under ] 2.5, 3.0, and 4.0<ref name="license change" /><ref name="license split 3.0 4.0"/> | |||
| owner = ] N.V. | |||
| author = {{ubl|]|]}} | |||
| launched = {{start date and age|2009|9}}<ref name="zdnet"/><br />(relaunched in January 2011)<ref name="usatoday" /> | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''Stack Exchange''' is a network of ] ]s on topics in diverse fields, each site covering a specific topic, where questions, answers, and users are subject to a reputation award process. The ] allows the sites to be self-moderating.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://stackoverflow.blog/2009/05/18/a-theory-of-moderation/|title=A Theory of Moderation|last1=Atwood|first1=Jeff|date=May 17, 2009|publisher=Stack Exchange Blog|access-date=December 16, 2012|archive-date=May 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515181628/https://stackoverflow.blog/2009/05/18/a-theory-of-moderation/|url-status=live}}</ref> {{asof|March 2023|post=,}} the three most actively viewed sites in the network are ] (which focuses on ]), Unix & Linux, and Mathematics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=All Sites – Stack Exchange |url=https://stackexchange.com/sites?view=list#traffic |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=stackexchange.com |archive-date=November 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122230648/https://stackexchange.com/sites?view=list#traffic |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
The '''Stack Exchange Network''' is a group of ]s, each covering a specific topic, where questions, answers, and users are subject to a reputation award process. This process allegedly promotes knowledgeable users, best answers, and important questions. | |||
All sites in the network are modeled after the initial site Stack Overflow which was created by ] and ] in 2008. Further Q&A sites in the network are established, defined, and eventually{{snd}} if found relevant{{snd}} brought to creation by registered users through a special site named Area 51.<ref name="Traffic">{{Cite web|url=https://stackexchange.com/sites?view=list#traffic|title=All Sites|publisher=Stack Exchange|access-date=April 1, 2017|archive-date=November 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122230648/https://stackexchange.com/sites?view=list#traffic|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Area51">{{cite web|title=FAQ – Area 51 – Stack Exchange|url=https://area51.stackexchange.com/faq|publisher=Stack Exchange, Inc.|date=2014|access-date=June 30, 2014|archive-date=August 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807144851/https://area51.stackexchange.com/faq|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
A wide range of topics in different fields is covered.<ref name="secrets">{{cite web | |||
| title = Secrets of social site success | |||
| url = http://www.sdtimes.com/SHORT_TAKES_APRIL_15_2009/About_SHORTTAKES/33403 | |||
| work = ] | |||
| date = 2009-04-15 | |||
| accessdate = 2009-04-16 | |||
| author = Alan Zeichick}}</ref><ref name="slashdot">{{cite web | |||
| title = Spolsky's Software Q-and-A Site | |||
| url = http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/16/1910214 | |||
| work = Slashdot | |||
| date = 2008-09-16 | |||
| accessdate = 2009-05-23}}</ref><ref name="google-tech-talks">{{cite web | |||
| work = Google Tech Talks | |||
| title = Learning from StackOverflow.com | |||
| url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWHfY_lvKIQ | |||
| author = Joel Spolsky | |||
| publisher = YouTube | |||
| date = 2009-04-24 | |||
| accessdate = 2009-05-23}}</ref><ref name="atlantic">{{cite news|last=Keller|first= Jared|title= Stack Overflow's Crowdsourcing Model Guarantees Success | url= http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/11/stack-overflows-crowdsourcing-model-guarantees-success/66713/ |accessdate= 4 January 2011| newspaper= ]| date= November 18, 2010}}</ref> All subscriber generated content (questions and answers) is licensed to Stack Exchange under the ] Attribution Share Alike (CC BY-SA) license.<ref name="stackoverflow_legal" /> | |||
User contributions since May 2, 2018 are licensed under ]. Older content, contributed while the site used the ] license or the earlier Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Unported license, remains licensed under the license in force at the time it was contributed.<ref name="license split 3.0 4.0">{{cite web |title=An Update On Creative Commons Licensing |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/344491/|access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref><ref name="license change">{{cite web|url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/333089|title=Stack Exchange and Stack Overflow are moving to CC BY-SA 4.0|website=meta.stackexchange.com|access-date=September 18, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=December 11, 2014|title=Legal — Terms of Service|url=http://stackexchange.com/legal|access-date=December 21, 2014|publisher=Stack Exchange|archive-date=January 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103101633/http://stackexchange.com/legal|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==Community design== | |||
Users can ask and answer questions, up-vote or down-vote an answer. Through this process users earn ] and ]. A user is awarded 10 reputation points for receiving an "up-vote" on an answer given to a question, and can receive badges for achieving certain meta-goals, such as logging in continuously for 100 days, or fulfilling simple criteria, such as answering their first question.<ref name="soFAQ">{{cite web | url = http://stackoverflow.com/faq#reputation | work = Stack Overflow | title = FAQ: What is Reputation? | accessdate = 19 January 2010}}</ref> By collecting reputation points, users are given more privileges, ranging from the ability to vote and comment on questions and answers to the ability to moderate many aspects of the site.<ref name="soFAQ" /> According to Jeff Atwood, the reputation and badge system is modeled after ]. By building game-like feedback systems into community websites, such mechanics will encourage users to contribute more actively.<ref>{{cite web|last=Atwood |first=Jeff |url=http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/03/the-worlds-largest-mmorpg-youre-playing-it-right-now.html |title=The World's Largest MMORPG: You're Playing it Right Now |publisher=Coding Horror |date=2009-03-15 |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> | |||
In June 2021, ] acquired Stack Overflow for $1.8 billion, its first complete acquisition in the area of ].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dummett|first=Ben|date=2021-06-02|title=WSJ News Exclusive {{!}} Stack Overflow Sold to Tech Giant Prosus for $1.8 Billion|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/software-developer-community-stack-overflow-sold-to-tech-giant-prosus-for-1-8-billion-11622648400|access-date=2021-06-03|issn=0099-9660|archive-date=October 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029175938/https://www.wsj.com/articles/software-developer-community-stack-overflow-sold-to-tech-giant-prosus-for-1-8-billion-11622648400|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==History== | |||
The first site in the Stack Exchange Network was '']'', created by ] and ] in 2008<ref name="introducing">{{cite web | |||
| title = Introducing Stackoverflow.com | |||
| url = http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001101.html | |||
| work = Coding Horror | |||
| date = 2008-04-16 | |||
| accessdate = 2009-03-11 | |||
| author = Jeff Atwood}}</ref><ref name="Jeff Atwood">{{cite web | |||
| title = None of Us is as Dumb as All of Us | |||
| url = http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001169.html | |||
| work = Coding Horror | |||
| date = 2008-09-16 | |||
| accessdate = 2009-03-11 | |||
| author = Jeff Atwood}}</ref> as a more open alternative to earlier forums such as ]. Soon after ''Stack Overflow'' exited from its beta phase, a few more sites were added to the network, starting with ''Server Fault'', which entered public beta on May 26, 2009.<ref name="ServerFaultPublicBetaLaunch">{{cite web | |||
| title = Server Fault Public Beta Launches | |||
| url = http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/05/server-fault-public-beta-launches/ | |||
| work = Stack Exchange Blog | |||
| date = 2009-05-26 | |||
| accessdate = 2010-06-07 | |||
| author = Jeff Atwood}}</ref> On February 6, 2012 Jeff Atwood publicly announced that he was to leave Stack Exchange and spend more time with his family.<ref name="farewell">{{cite web | |||
| title = Farewell Stack Exchange | |||
| url = http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2012/02/farewell-stack-exchange.html | |||
| work = Coding Horror | |||
| date = 2012-02-06 | |||
| accessdate = 2012-02-07 | |||
| author = Jeff Atwood}}</ref> | |||
== History == | |||
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.<ref name="stackexchange1">{{cite web | |||
| title = StackOverflow Shares its Mojo: White Label Q&A for All | |||
| url = http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2009/10/stackoverflow-shares-its-mojo.php | |||
| accessdate = 2011-01-11 | |||
| date = 2009-10-12 | |||
| work = Read Write Web | |||
| author = Dana Oshiro}}</ref> Later, the site was repurposed so the community can collaborate in deciding on what sites should be added to the network.<ref name="stackexchange2changes">{{cite web | |||
| title = Changes to Stack Exchange | |||
| url = http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/04/changes-to-stack-exchange/ | |||
| accessdate = 2010-06-07 | |||
| date = 2010-04-13 | |||
| work = Stack Exchange Blog | |||
| author = Joel Spolsky}}</ref> | |||
=== Founding and growth === | |||
The Stack Exchange Network began with three sites, StackOverflow.com, ServerFault.com, and SuperUser.com. | |||
] | |||
In 2008, Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky created ], a question-and-answer website for ] questions, which they described as an alternative to the programmer forum ].<ref name="rww-perez" /> In 2009, they started additional sites based on the Stack Overflow model: Server Fault for questions related to ] and Super User for questions from computer ]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2009/08/20/super-user-question-and-answer-site-for-power-users|title=Super User – question and answer site for power users|date=August 20, 2009|publisher=AOL|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715143437/http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2009/08/20/super-user-question-and-answer-site-for-power-users|archive-date=July 15, 2014|url-status=dead|last1=Clarke|first1=Jason|work=DownloadSquad|access-date=April 1, 2017}}</ref> | |||
In September 2009, Spolsky's company, ], released a ] version of the Stack Exchange 1.0 platform<ref name="zdnet">{{cite web |url= https://www.zdnet.com/article/find-the-answer-to-anything-with-stackexchange/ |title= Find the Answer to Anything with StackExchange |last= Mager |first= Andrew |date= September 27, 2009 |work= The Web Life |publisher= ZDNet |access-date= December 16, 2012 |archive-date= January 7, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140107211024/http://www.zdnet.com/blog/weblife/find-the-answer-to-anything-with-stackexchange/889 |url-status= live }}</ref> as a way for third parties to create their own communities based on the software behind Stack Overflow, with monthly fees.<ref name="stackexchange1">{{cite web|url=http://readwrite.com/2009/10/12/stackoverflow-shares-its-mojo/|title=StackOverflow Shares its Mojo: White Label Q&A for All|date=October 12, 2009|access-date=April 1, 2017|work=ReadWriteWeb|last1=Oshiro|first1=Dana|archive-date=April 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402165631/http://readwrite.com/2009/10/12/stackoverflow-shares-its-mojo/|url-status=live}}</ref> This ] was not successful, with few customers and slow growing communities.<ref name="rww-2010">{{cite web |url= http://readwrite.com/2010/05/04/stackoverflow_business_funding |title= All-Star Team Backs StackOverflow to Go Beyond Programming Questions |last= Kirkpatrick |first= Marshall |date= May 4, 2010 |publisher= ReadWriteWeb |access-date= December 16, 2012 |archive-date= December 5, 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201205145702/https://readwrite.com/2010/05/04/stackoverflow_business_funding/ |url-status= live }}</ref> | |||
===Stack Overflow=== | |||
'']'' was launched in 2008<ref name="introducing"/><ref name="Jeff Atwood"/> as a more open alternative to earlier programmer forums such as ]. The name for the website was chosen by voting in April 2008 by readers of ''Coding Horror'', Atwood's popular programming blog.<ref name="help_name">{{cite web | |||
| title = Help Name Our Website | |||
| url = http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2008/04/help-name-our-website.html | |||
| work = Coding Horror | |||
| date = 2008-04-06 | |||
| accessdate = 2011-06-15 | |||
| author = Jeff Atwood}}</ref> 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. | |||
In May 2010, Stack Overflow (as its own new company) raised US$6 million in ] from ] and other investors, and it switched its focus to developing new sites for answering questions on specific subjects,<ref name="rww-2010" /> Stack Exchange 2.0. Users vote on new site topics in a staging area called Area 51, where algorithms determine which suggested site topics have ] and should be created.<ref name="rww-perez">{{cite web |url= http://readwrite.com/2010/07/08/with_debut_of_web_apps_qa_site_stack_exchange_perfects_automated_site_launch_process |title= With Debut of Web Apps Q&A Site, Stack Exchange Perfects Automated Site Launch Process |last1= Perez |first1= Sarah |date= July 8, 2010 |publisher= ReadWriteWeb |access-date= December 16, 2012 |archive-date= April 5, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140405013843/http://readwrite.com/2010/07/08/with_debut_of_web_apps_qa_site_stack_exchange_perfects_automated_site_launch_process |url-status= live }}</ref> In November 2010, Stack Exchange site topics in ] included physics, mathematics, and writing.<ref name="atlantic">{{cite web |url= https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/11/stack-overflows-crowdsourcing-model-guarantees-success/66713/ |title= Stack Overflow's Crowdsourcing Model Guarantees Success |last1= Keller |first1= Jared |date= November 18, 2010 |publisher= ] |access-date= December 16, 2012 |archive-date= November 23, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101123061123/http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/11/stack-overflows-crowdsourcing-model-guarantees-success/66713/ |url-status= live }}</ref> Stack Exchange publicly launched in January 2011 with 33 Web sites; it had 27 employees<ref>{{cite web |url= http://betabeat.com/2011/01/forget-quora-new-yorks-stack-overflow-is-killing-it/ |title= Forget Quora, New York's Stack Overflow Is Killing It |last1= Jeffries |first1= Adrienne |date= January 25, 2011 |publisher= BetaBeat |access-date= December 30, 2012 |archive-date= November 7, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141107231653/http://betabeat.com/2011/01/forget-quora-new-yorks-stack-overflow-is-killing-it/ |url-status= live }}</ref> and 1.5 million users at the time, and it included advertising.<ref name="usatoday">{{cite web |url= http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-01-24-qandasites24_ST_N.htm |title= Q&A websites like Quora and Stack Exchange take off |last1= Swartz |first1= Jon |date= January 24, 2011 |publisher= USA Today |access-date= December 16, 2012 |archive-date= November 27, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141127134719/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-01-24-qandasites24_ST_N.htm |url-status= live }}</ref> At that time, it was compared to ], founded in 2009, which similarly specializes in expert answers.<ref name="usatoday"/> Other competing sites include ] and ].<ref>{{cite news |title= The Answers Are Out There, and New Q. and A. Sites Dig Them Up |author= Jenna Wortham |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/technology/07question.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |newspaper= New York Times |date= February 6, 2011 |access-date= December 31, 2012 |archive-date= August 16, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180816194343/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/technology/07question.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |url-status= live }}</ref> | |||
{{As of|2012|06}}, Stack Overflow's publicly available usage tool reports it has about 1.2 million registered users and 3.2 million questions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stackexchange.com/sites?view=list#questionsperday|title=All Sites - Stack Exchange}}</ref> Based on ] assigned to the questions, the most common topics on the site are ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="tags">{{cite web | work = Stack Overflow | title = Tags | url= http://stackoverflow.com/tags | accessdate = 15 July 2010}}</ref> | |||
In February 2011, Stack Overflow released an associated job board called Careers 2.0, charging fees to recruiters for access, which later re-branded to Stack Overflow Careers.<ref name="cnet">{{cite web |url= http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-20035160-250.html |title= Stack Exchange launches programmer recruiting site |last1= Needleman |first1= Rafe |date= February 23, 2011 |publisher= CNet |access-date= December 16, 2012 |archive-date= March 30, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130330094229/http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-20035160-250.html |url-status= dead }}</ref> In March 2011, Stack Overflow raised US$12 million in additional venture funding, and the company renamed itself to Stack Exchange, Inc.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS79274282920110309 |title= Q&A startup Stack Overflow gets new name, more funding |last1= Ha |first1= Anthony |date= March 9, 2011 |work= VentureBeat |publisher= Reuters |access-date= December 16, 2012 |archive-date= March 7, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160307053436/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS79274282920110309 |url-status= live }}</ref> It is based in ].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://gigaom.com/2011/02/16/stack-overflow-rides-experts-and-order-to-qa-success/ |title= Stack Overflow Rides Experts & Order to Q&A Success |last1= Kim |first1= Ryan |date= February 16, 2011 |publisher= GigaOM |access-date= December 30, 2012 |archive-date= January 11, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130111225049/http://gigaom.com/2011/02/16/stack-overflow-rides-experts-and-order-to-qa-success/ |url-status= live }}</ref> In February 2012, Atwood left the company.<ref name="wired-atwood">{{cite magazine |url= https://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/07/stackoverflow-jeff-atwood/ |title= Stack Overflow Man Remakes Net One Answer at a Time |last1= Finley |first1= Klint |date= July 5, 2012 |magazine= Enterprise |publisher= Wired |access-date=December 16, 2012}}</ref> | |||
===Server Fault=== | |||
{{multiple image | |||
| direction = vertical | |||
| width = 290 | |||
| image1 = | |||
| caption1 = Server Fault Logo | |||
| image2 = Serverfault.png | |||
| caption2 = Server Fault Homepage | |||
}} | |||
On April 18, 2013 ] issued ] (DMCA) takedown notices in an attempt to block discussion of possible weaknesses of their encryption algorithm.<ref>{{cite web |title=CipherCloud used DMCA Takedown on StackExchange discussion of the cryptography |url=https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5579538 |access-date=June 16, 2013 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091853/https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5579538 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=CipherCloud Invokes DMCA To Block Discussions of Its Crypto System |date=April 21, 2013 |url=http://it.slashdot.org/story/13/04/21/1721236/ciphercloud-invokes-dmca-to-block-discussions-of-its-crypto-system |access-date=June 16, 2013 |archive-date=January 12, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160112220225/http://it.slashdot.org/story/13/04/21/1721236/ciphercloud-invokes-dmca-to-block-discussions-of-its-crypto-system |url-status=live }}</ref> The Stack Exchange Crypto group discussion on the algorithm was censored, but it was later restored without pictures.<ref>{{cite web|title=How is CipherCloud doing homomorphic encryption|url=https://crypto.stackexchange.com/q/3645 }}</ref> | |||
The site deals exclusively with questions related to the field of ], designed for use by ]s and IT professionals.<ref> Jeff Atwood. Retrieved on 2009-06-08.</ref> The website was launched in public beta, open to registration in May 2009. | |||
{{As of|2015|09}}, "Stack Exchange" no longer refers to the company, only the network of question-and-answer websites. Instead, the company is now referred to as Stack Overflow.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://stackoverflow.blog/2015/09/15/were-changing-our-name-back-to-stack-overflow/|title=We're Changing Our Name (Back) to Stack Overflow|last=Hanlon|first=Jay|date=September 15, 2015|website=Stack Overflow Blog|access-date=April 1, 2017|archive-date=April 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402083551/https://stackoverflow.blog/2015/09/15/were-changing-our-name-back-to-stack-overflow/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
The most popular topics discussed on the site, based on ] assigned to the questions, are ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]s.<ref> Server Fault. Retrieved on 2009-08-19.</ref> | |||
In 2016, Stack Exchange added a variety of new sites which pushed the boundaries of the typical question-and-answer site.<ref name="YearInReview2016">{{Cite web|url=https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/01/26/year-in-review-2016/|title=Stack Exchange Year in Review 2016|last=Ericson|first=Jon|date=January 26, 2017|website=Stack Overflow Blog|access-date=April 1, 2017|archive-date=April 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402083547/https://stackoverflow.blog/2017/01/26/year-in-review-2016/|url-status=live}}</ref> For example, Puzzling offers a platform for users who already know the answer to questions to challenge their peers to solve the problems unlike traditional Q–A sites where the poster does not know the answer.<ref name="YearInReview2016" /> | |||
===Super User=== | |||
''Super User'' is dedicated to questions from all computer "]s",<ref name="ReadWriteStart ">{{cite web | url = http://www.readwriteweb.com/readwritestart/2009/07/geeks-only-qa-from-super-user.php | work = ReadWriteStart | title = Geeks-Only Q&A From Super User | accessdate = 2009-08-18 | first = Jolie | last = O'Dell | date = 2009-07-26}}</ref> rather than just programmers or system administrators, and it was launched publicly on August 18, 2009.<ref name="SUpublic">{{cite web | url = http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/08/super-user-now-public/ | work = Stack Overflow Blog | title = Super User Now Public | accessdate = 2009-08-18 | first = Jeff | last = Atwood | date = 2009-08-18}}</ref> | |||
=== Declining relationship between users and company === | |||
{{Refimprove section|date=July 2011}} | |||
{{User-generated|section|date=March 2022}} | |||
In 2016, Stack Exchange announced the second iteration of the Stack Exchange Quality Project, in which they attempt to implement specific important features requested by the community to meet a distinct high-priority set of goals. After users enthusiastically responded with feature ideas, they complained that there was insufficient action on the company's part.<ref>{{cite web |title=Answer by user jscs to We need to stop hoping for change in, or help from, SO Inc|url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/342510|access-date=March 5, 2020}}</ref> | |||
In October 2018, the company removed its Interpersonal Skills site from the Hot Network Questions list after a complaint on Twitter, and an employee (who was part of the ] team, which was not community-facing) posted tweets attacking moderators.<ref>{{cite web |title=Revisiting the "Hot Network Questions" feature, what are our shared goals for having it?|url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/316934 |access-date=March 5, 2020}}</ref> | |||
==StackExchange 1.0== | |||
In February 2010,<ref name="stackexchange1" /> '''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.<ref name="stackexchange">{{cite web | |||
| title = StackOverflow For Any Topic | |||
| url = http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/09/27/2127259/StackOverflow-For-Any-Topic | |||
| work = SlashDot | |||
| date = 2009-09-27 | |||
| accessdate = 2009-09-28 | |||
| author = RobinH}}</ref> | |||
These sites have been hosted by ].<ref name="fogcreekrole">{{cite web | |||
| title = What Role does Fog Creek Software have in the ownership of the Stack Exchange Network? | |||
| url = http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/53250/what-role-does-fog-creek-software-have-in-the-ownership-of-the-stack-exchange-net/53251#53251 | |||
| work = Meta Stack Overflow | |||
| date = 2010-06-10 | |||
| accessdate = 2010-06-10 | |||
| author = waiwai933}}</ref> Pricing was based solely on the number of ]s.<ref name="stackexchange1pricing">{{cite web | |||
| title = New Pricing Levels | |||
| url = http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/3794/new-pricing-levels/3798#3798 | |||
| work = Meta Stack Exchange | |||
| date = 2010-01-19 | |||
| accessdate = 2010-06-07 | |||
| author = Rich Seller}}</ref> | |||
==== Late 2019 controversies ==== | |||
=={{anchor|area51}} Stack Exchange 2.0== | |||
{{Primary sources section|date=October 2024}} | |||
In April 2010, funded by ],<ref name="venturefunding">{{cite web | |||
To start, in June 2019, more advertisements were added causing a large dispute.<ref>{{Cite web |title=We're testing advertisements across the network |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/329763/were-testing-advertisements-across-the-network |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=Meta Stack Exchange |language=en}}</ref> On September 27, 2019, a moderator of multiple Stack Exchange sites, specifically Monica Cellio, was dismissed from her moderator position, allegedly connected to behavior associated with upcoming changes to the Code of Conduct (CoC) relating to ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/333965/firing-mods-and-forced-relicensing-is-stack-exchange-still-interested-in-cooper|title=Firing Mods and Forced Relicensing: Is Stack Exchange Still Interested in Cooperating with the Community?|date=2019-09-29|website=Meta Stack Exchange|access-date=2019-10-28|archive-date=October 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029044621/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/333965/firing-mods-and-forced-relicensing-is-stack-exchange-still-interested-in-cooper|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://judaism.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5193/stack-overflow-inc-sinat-chinam-and-the-goat-for-azazel|title=Stack Overflow Inc., sinat chinam, and the goat for Azazel|date=2019-09-29|website=Mi Yodeya Meta Stack Exchange|access-date=2019-10-28|archive-date=October 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029044815/https://judaism.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/5193/stack-overflow-inc-sinat-chinam-and-the-goat-for-azazel|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Mod Firing Squad: Stack Exchange Embroiled in 'He Said, She Said, They Said' Row|website=]|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/10/01/stack_exchange_controversy/|date=October 1, 2019|access-date=October 19, 2019|archive-date=October 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019163735/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/10/01/stack_exchange_controversy/|url-status=live}}</ref> Many other moderators resigned or suspended their moderator activity in response to the dismissal. The company responded with two very poorly received messages which have since been deleted,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/334248/an-update-to-our-community-and-an-apology |title=An Update to our Community and an Apology |access-date=October 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191006190203/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/334248/an-update-to-our-community-and-an-apology |archive-date=October 6, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and by a slightly less negatively-received apology several days later.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/334551/an-apology-to-our-community-and-next-steps |title=An apology to our community, and next steps |access-date=October 19, 2019 |archive-date=October 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019143317/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/334551/an-apology-to-our-community-and-next-steps |url-status=live }}</ref> In December 2019, the company posted a message, stating that they and the moderator had come to an agreement and expressing regret for any damage to her reputation.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125230214/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/340906/update-an-agreement-with-monica-cellio |date=November 25, 2022 }}. ''Meta Stack Exchange''. Retrieved 2020-01-03.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/02/stack_overflow_settles/|title=Stack Overflow makes peace with ousted moderator, wants to start New Year with 2020 vision on codes of conduct|last=at 22:16|first=Thomas Claburn in San Francisco Jan 2, 2020|website=TheRegister.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2020-01-22|archive-date=January 24, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200124002144/https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/02/stack_overflow_settles/|url-status=live}}</ref> Nevertheless, this, plus the sudden departure of multiple community managers (Stack Exchange employees who interact with the community), led to an erosion of trust between the community and the company—convincing many of the site's most prolific users, including many community-elected moderators and a community manager, to depart within the next few months.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/342039/firing-community-managers-stack-exchange-is-not-interested-in-cooperating-with|title=Firing Community Managers: Stack Exchange is not interested in cooperating with the community, is it?|website=Meta Stack Exchange|access-date=2020-01-22|archive-date=January 22, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122211603/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/342039/firing-community-managers-stack-exchange-is-not-interested-in-cooperating-with|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/333965/firing-mods-and-forced-relicensing-is-stack-exchange-still-interested-in-cooper |title=Firing mods and forced relicensing: is Stack Exchange still interested in cooperating with the community? |website=Meta Stack Exchange |access-date=2020-01-22 |archive-date=October 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191029044621/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/333965/firing-mods-and-forced-relicensing-is-stack-exchange-still-interested-in-cooper |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
| title = Announcing the Stack Overflow Series A Financing | |||
| url = http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/05/announcing-our-series-a/ | |||
| work = Stack Exchange Blog | |||
| date = 2010-05-03 | |||
| accessdate = 2010-06-10 | |||
| author = Joel Spolsky}} | |||
</ref><ref name="venturefunding2">{{cite web | |||
| title = Stack Overflow | |||
| url = http://www.unionsquareventures.com/2010/05/stackoverflow.php | |||
| work = Union Square Ventures | |||
| date = 2010-05-06 | |||
| accessdate = 2010-06-10 | |||
| author = Andrew}} | |||
</ref><ref name="venturefunding3">{{cite web | |||
| title = Raising money for Stack Overflow | |||
| url = http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2010/02/14.html | |||
| work = Joel on Software | |||
| date = 2010-02-14 | |||
| accessdate = 2010-06-10 | |||
| author = Joel Spolsky}} | |||
</ref><ref name="venturefunding4">{{cite web | |||
| title = Spolsky Switches Teams: Raising VC for StackOverflow in Light of Q&A Competition | |||
| url = http://gigaom.com/2010/02/16/spolsky-switches-teams-raising-vc-for-stackoverflow-in-light-of-qa-competition/ | |||
| author = Liz Gannes | |||
| date = 2010-02-16 | |||
| accessdate = 2010-06-10 | |||
| work = Gigaom | |||
}}</ref> '''Stack Exchange 2.0''' was launched by Stack Exchange, Inc. (then Stack Overflow Internet Services, Inc.),.<ref name = "stackexchange2changes" /><ref name="fogcreekrole" /> This consisted of free-of-charge sites owned by Stack Exchange Inc. and the content licensed under the ] license.<ref name="stackexchange2changes" /> New sites are created using a crowd-sourcing process based on voting.<ref>{{cite web | |||
| title = Stack Exchange Uses Crowd-Sourcing to Launch New Sites | |||
| url = http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/with_debut_of_web_apps_qa_site_stack_exchange_perfects_automated_site_launch_process.php | |||
| author = Sarah Perez | |||
| date = 2010-07-08 | |||
| accessdate = 2011-01-11 | |||
| work = Read Write Web | |||
}}</ref> | |||
The site creation zone of the Stack Exchange Network is called ''Area 51''.<ref>{{cite web | |||
| title = Area 51 — New Site Staging Zone | |||
| url = http://area51.stackexchange.com | |||
| accessdate = 2011-06-04 | |||
| work = Stack Exchange | |||
}}</ref> | |||
{{As of|2012|5}}, Stack Exchange Network accounts 83 different websites.<ref>{{cite web|title=Site Directory - Stack Exchange|url=http://stackexchange.com/sites|work=Stack Exchange|accessdate=16 May 2012}}</ref> | |||
==== 2019–2020 licensing change announcements ==== | |||
==Notable sites== | |||
On September 2, 2019, the terms of service (and the footer of every page served) changed to referencing the "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike" (CC BY-SA) license's 4.0 version instead of its 3.0 version.<ref name="license change"/> Users were puzzled as to how Stack Overflow acquired the rights for this relicensing of their past contributions,<ref>{{cite web |title=Was the retroactive change to CC BY-SA 4.0 approved by Stack Exchange's lawyers? |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/q/333678 |access-date=February 2, 2020}}</ref> with some users explicitly stating that they did not intend their contributions to be licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Owens |first1=Thomas |title='I do not grant anyone the right to change the license of my contributions' |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/333125}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=andreymal |title=Review on 'Stack Exchange Data Dump' |url=https://archive.org/details/stackexchange#reviews |website=Internet Archive}}</ref> Users were concerned that, if the relicensing was found to be a breach of CC BY-SA 3.0, Stack Exchange would have made itself unable to distribute the content under any CC BY-SA license (and that the footer's license statement could be erroneous), and would have to rely on its "perpetual and irrevocable right and license to use, copy, cache, publish, display, distribute, modify, create derivative works and store" the content instead.<ref>{{cite web |title=Discussion on 'Stack Exchange and Stack Overflow have moved to CC BY-SA 4.0' |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/333194 |access-date=December 14, 2021}}</ref> On September 27, an official Stack Exchange reply stated it had been an "important step", but declined to discuss with the community the legal basis for the relicensing.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stack Overflow is "unable to pursue dialogues" |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/333912 |access-date=February 2, 2020}}</ref> | |||
One of the early sites using the Stack Exchange 1.0 software is Mathematical research Q&A ].<ref>{{cite web|title=MathOverflow|url=http://mathoverflow.net}}</ref> The network is using the Stack Exchange 2.0 to expand to cover other academic research areas like ] and ],<ref>{{cite web|title=CrossValidated|url=http://stats.stackexchange.com/}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite web|title=Theoretical Computer Science|url=http://cstheory.stackexchange.com/}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite web|title=Linguistic - Stack Exchange|url=http://linguistics.stackexchange.com/}}</ref> ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Biblical Hermeneutics - Stack Exchange|url=http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/}}</ref> The network also supports questions and answers sites for general level questions in topics such as ],<ref>{{cite web|title=Mathematics|url=http://math.stackexchange.com}}</ref> ]<ref>{{cite web|title=Physics|url=http://physics.stackexchange.com}}</ref> and ],<ref>{{cite web|title=History - Stack Exchange|url=http://history.stackexchange.com/}}</ref> as well as non-academic topics such as ],<ref>{{cite web|title=Gaming|url=http://gaming.stackexchange.com/}}</ref> ]<ref>{{cite web|title=Cooking|url=http://cooking.stackexchange.com/}}</ref> and the ].<ref>{{cite web|title=English Language and Usage|url=http://english.stackexchange.com/}}</ref> | |||
In March 2020, a post announced that content contributed before May 2, 2018 was available under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license.<ref name="license split 3.0 4.0"/> In the ensuing discussion, several users asked about the similar situation in August 2010, when Stack Exchange switched from accepting CC BY-SA 2.5 contributions to 3.0. A representative of the corporation noted "we are looking to show v2.5 for posts predating this change but cannot commit to it yet". Some users were unconvinced that the September 2019 announcement was not a breach of CC BY-SA 3.0 that would have caused its termination, and some answers were not placated by the dateline chosen.<ref>{{cite web |title="Under CC BY-SA 3.0, any violations terminate (sic) your CC license" |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/a/344546 |access-date=March 8, 2020}}</ref> In the ensuing discussion, Stack Overflow staff declined to comment.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Yaakov Ellis |title='Stack Overflow staff' declines to comment on licensing situation |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/344491/an-update-on-creative-commons-licensing#comment1154435_344546 |access-date=14 December 2021 |archive-date=December 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211214222555/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/344491/an-update-on-creative-commons-licensing#comment1154435_344546 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
==Criticism== | |||
<!-- === Involvement of Prosus === Add more please!--> | |||
Stack Exchange and related sites have been subject to criticism on account deletion, voting and closing policy, suspension policy, editing policy, user antagonism, deprecation, and authoritarianism.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reddit.com/r/Wordpress/comments/ljlsy/what_do_you_guys_think_of/ |title=What do you guys think of wordpress.stackexchange.com, looking for input as to why the new user answers are dismally low. : Wordpress |publisher=Reddit.com |date=2011-10-20 |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=98778 |title=Lots of people short, lots of people long. Nothing special about it. I made a pi... | Hacker News |publisher=News.ycombinator.com |date= |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> | |||
==== June - August 2023 moderation strike ==== | |||
===Voting policy=== | |||
In mid-2023, Stack Exchange made several changes regarding its policies around content generated by ] which resulted in a strike of a portion of its volunteer moderators. The protest centered around a policy posted to moderators on May 29 stating that the use of AI-detection tools were not permitted to be used as part of moderation. In a statement, Stack Exchange confirmed that 11% of moderators had ceased content moderation in response to this policy.<ref>{{cite web | last=Anderson | first=Tim | title=Stack Overflow volunteer moderators down tools over secret new policy that obstructs removal of AI-generated content • DEVCLASS | website=DEVCLASS | date=5 June 2023 | url=https://devclass.com/2023/06/05/stack-overflow-volunteer-moderators-down-tools-over-secret-new-policy-that-obstructs-removal-of-ai-generated-content/ | access-date=23 February 2024}}</ref> This would grow to more than 23% of all moderators on the network by June 22, including more than 70% of all Stack Overflow moderators.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dear Stack Overflow, Inc. |url=https://openletter.mousetail.nl/#signatures |access-date=2024-04-14 |website=openletter.mousetail.nl}}</ref> | |||
Critics argue that up-voting does not always promote the best answer. Questions are commonly answered fast without focusing on quality or correctness, to boost reputation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jpassing.com/2008/09/14/stack-overflow-not-convinced/ |title=Stack Overflow: Not Convinced « Johannes Passing's Blog |publisher=Jpassing.com |date= |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/39445/why-isnt-there-more-dialog-between-askers-and-answerers/39452#39452 |title=Why isn't there more dialog between askers and answerers? |publisher=Meta Stack Overflow |date=2010-02-14 |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> | |||
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. Criticism is also geared towards the judgemental nature of responses, for example | |||
{{quote|text=I second that, I do nothing but read SO because it seems way to strict, and all of the 'meta' discussion of it leaves me with a feeling like I can't post to it, lest my post be scrutinized as to whether it's on-topic, off-topic, not on-topic enough, similar to a question asked previously months ago, is this a useful question? is this a stupid question? is it properly formatted? was enough effort put in composing the question? is the question to broad? is it too "]"? is the question too opinion based? is the question irrelevant? | |||
Sometimes I just want to ask a question without having to worry if it is worthy enough to be answered by the lords of Stack Exchange, & all of it's over enforced rules.<ref>{{cite web|last=Atwood |first=Jeff |url=http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2011/12/building-social-software-for-the-anti-social.html |title=Building Social Software for the Anti-Social |publisher=Coding Horror |date=2011-12-19 |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> }} | |||
The strike began with a post to Meta Stack Exchange, which raised concerns regarding the quality and accuracy of AI-generated content, and the lack of transparency from Stack Exchange surrounding this policy change.<ref>{{cite web | title=Moderation Strike: Stack Overflow, Inc. cannot consistently ignore, mistreat, and malign its volunteers | website=Meta Stack Exchange | date=2 August 2023 | url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/389811/moderation-strike-stack-overflow-inc-cannot-consistently-ignore-mistreat-an | access-date=23 February 2024}}</ref> Moderators also stated that the version of the policy released to the public differed from the version they had received on the moderator-only forum, notably in that the public version did not include language requiring that moderators stop restricting all AI content.<ref>{{cite web | last=Roscoe | first=Jules | title=Stack Overflow Moderators Are Striking to Stop Garbage AI Content From Flooding the Site | website=VICE | date=5 June 2023 | url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/4a33dj/stack-overflow-moderators-are-striking-to-stop-garbage-ai-content-from-flooding-the-site | access-date=23 February 2024}}</ref> | |||
===Closing policy=== | |||
Questions can be closed once five votes have been cast from a group of users that have gained this privilege.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stackoverflow.com/faq#deletion |title=Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=Stack Overflow |date= |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> 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<ref>{{cite web|author=Posted by spoike |url=http://batterypowered.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/the-collective-of-chauvinistic-hipocrites-or-how-stack-overflow-ruined-my-day/ |title=The Collective of Chauvinistic Hypocrites (or How Stack Overflow Ruined My Day) « Battery Powered |publisher=Batterypowered.wordpress.com |date=2008-09-23 |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> and this can lead to user dissatisfaction,<ref>{{cite web|author=FSK |url=http://fskrealityguide.blogspot.com/2009/02/stackoverflow-sucks.html |title=FSK's Guide to Reality: StackOverflow Sucks! |publisher=Fskrealityguide.blogspot.com |date=2009-02-26 |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> nor are always in accordance with the community.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stackoverflow.com/questions/29426/best-gui-designer-for-eclipse |title=java - Best GUI designer for eclipse? |publisher=Stack Overflow |date=2009-09-30 |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> | |||
Negotiations between Stack Exchange and moderators resulted in new policies allowing moderators to remove AI content when there is a strong indicator of GPT usage, and a commitment from the site to continue to provide data and API access. At the conclusion of negotiations, the strike ended on August 2, 2023.<ref>{{cite web | last=Anderson | first=Tim | title=Stack Overflow: how much is traffic dropping, and how the moderator "strike" was resolved • DEVCLASS | website=DEVCLASS | date=24 August 2023 | url=https://devclass.com/2023/08/24/stack-overflow-how-much-is-traffic-dropping-and-how-the-moderator-strike-was-resolved/ | access-date=23 February 2024}}</ref> | |||
===Suspension policy=== | |||
In April, 2009 Stack Exchange implemented a policy of "timed suspension",<ref name="Stackoverflow Blog ">{{cite web | url = http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/04/a-day-in-the-penalty-box | work = StackOverflow Blog | title = A Day in the Penalty Box| accessdate = 2009-04-06 | first = Jeff | last = Atwood | date = 2009-04-06}}</ref> in order to curtail users whose actions are deemed to be detrimental to the community. Criticism of this new feature has focused on the broad nature of such definitions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/23366/suspension-reasons/23372#23372 |title=Suspension Reasons |publisher=Meta Stack Overflow |date= |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> Further criticism is focused towards authoritarian tone and punitive nature set by the new policy and the arbitrary judgment it allows.<ref>{{cite web|last=Atwood |first=Jeff |url=http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2011/06/suspension-ban-or-hellban.html |title=Suspension, Ban or Hellban? |publisher=Coding Horror |date=2011-06-04 |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> Users who are deemed problematic may be suspended for a period of time based on a moderator's judgment. The suspension is accompanied by a temporary removal of the user's reputation score and an announcement on the user's profile page informing the community of the suspension and general reason. | |||
== Site features == | |||
===Data and user deletion policy=== | |||
The Terms of Service for Stack Exchange states: "You agree that all Subscriber Content that You contribute to the Network is perpetually and irrevocably licensed to Stack Exchange under the ]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://stackexchange.com/legal |title=Terms of Service |publisher=Stack Exchange |date=2012-08-22 |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> User accounts can not be self-deleted if the user has contributed content to the site, and moderators or high reputation users can reverse deletions of content. The only way to delete an account is to submit the unique user ID to Stack Exchange by email requesting account deletion or for a moderator of the site to delete the account. | |||
=== |
=== Reputation and badges === | ||
The primary purpose of each Stack Exchange site is to enable users to post questions and answer them.<ref name="atlantic" /> Users can vote on both answers and questions, and through this process users earn reputation points, a form of ].<ref name="wired-atwood" /><ref name="soFAQ">{{cite web | url = https://stackoverflow.com/faq#reputation | work = Stack Overflow | title = FAQ: What is Reputation? | access-date = January 19, 2010 | archive-date = January 2, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100102012906/http://stackoverflow.com/faq#reputation | url-status = live }}</ref> This voting system was compared to ] when the Stack Exchange platform was first released.<ref name="stackexchange1" /> 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.<ref name="soFAQ" /> Due to the prominence of Stack Exchange profiles in web search results and the Stack Overflow Careers job board, users may have reason to ].<ref name="cnet" /> Along with posting questions and answers, users can add comments to them and edit text written by others.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://venturebeat.com/2010/05/04/stack-overflow-funding/ |title= Stack Overflow raises $6M to take its Q&A model beyond programming |last1= Ha |first1= Anthony |date= May 4, 2010 |work= Deals |publisher= VentureBeat |access-date= December 31, 2012 |archive-date= April 21, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160421001812/http://venturebeat.com/2010/05/04/stack-overflow-funding/ |url-status= live }}</ref> Each Stack Exchange site has a "meta" section where users can settle disputes, in the style of ]'s "MetaTalk" forum, because the self-moderation system for questions and answers can lead to significant arguments.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://betabeat.com/2011/12/conquering-the-chaos-of-online-community-at-stack-exchange/ |title= Conquering the CHAOS of Online Community at Stack Exchange |last= Popper |first= Ben |date= December 7, 2011 |publisher= BetaBeat |access-date= December 16, 2012 |archive-date= December 16, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121216063608/http://betabeat.com/2011/12/conquering-the-chaos-of-online-community-at-stack-exchange/ |url-status= live }}</ref> | |||
As in the case of user suspension, responses from reputed users can be too judgemental, or even offensive for a user.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/34980/relative-friendliness-of-developers-by-language-on-so/34983#34983 |title=Relative friendliness of developers by language on SO? |publisher=Meta Stack Overflow |date= |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/5314/should-sarcasm-be-acceptable/5318#5318 |title=Should Sarcasm be Acceptable? |publisher=Meta Stack Overflow |date= |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> Similar is the case with answers to questions, where commenting and downvoting of an answer is possible. This practice may lead to devaluation of a poster's opinion or factual experience. Such practice promotes antagonism<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/23373/user-basically-takes-your-answer-posts-it-as-his-own-and-accepts-his/23374#23374 |title=User basically takes your answer, posts it as his own and accepts his? |publisher=Meta Stack Overflow |date= |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/67586/what-do-i-do-when-i-think-someone-downvotes-because-of-jealousy/67619#67619 |title=What do I do when I think someone downvotes because of jealousy? |publisher=Meta Stack Overflow |date= |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> between users and usually requires moderation of the topic that is usually administered by a senior renowned member in an absolute manner.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/39267/account-suspension-for-answering-questions-well |title=Account suspension for answering questions well? |publisher=Meta Stack Overflow |date= |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/99261/tell-the-user-who-will-be-notified-of-a-comment |title=Tell the user who will be notified of a comment |publisher=Meta Stack Overflow |date=2011-09-20 |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Clarke |first=Jason |url=http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/09/22/stackoverflow-software-development-questions-and-answers/ |title=StackOverflow - software development questions and answers |publisher=Downloadsquad.switched.com |date=2008-09-22 |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://simonpalmer.com/category/stackoverflow/ |title=stackoverflow « Simon Palmer’s blog |publisher=Simonpalmer.com |date= |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Siebenga |first=Mendelt |url=http://www.mendeltsiebenga.com/2008/09/another-stack-overflow-review.html |title=Another Stack Overflow review |publisher=Mendelt Siebenga |date=2008-09-13 |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> | |||
Badges are awarded for asking and answering, participating in meta, and for moderating the site. There are bronze, silver and gold badges and appear on users' profile pages as well as their posts.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Badges|url=https://stackoverflow.com/help/badges|access-date=2021-07-05|website=Stack Overflow|archive-date=July 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210705033214/https://stackoverflow.com/help/badges|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=FAQ for Stack Exchange sites|url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/7931/faq-for-stack-exchange-sites|access-date=2021-07-05|website=Meta Stack Exchange|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183550/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/7931/faq-for-stack-exchange-sites|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
===Editing policy=== | |||
In Stack Exchange answers can be edited by anybody. Users over a certain threshold of reputation have the right to edit other users' posts without notification or approval of the original poster. Edits of users below the threshold are placed under review and once approved can be published without the original poster's approval. It has been reported that this practice can lead to misinterpretation of the original poster's answer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/28005/can-i-prevent-others-from-editing-my-question/28010#28010 |title=Can I prevent others from editing my question? |publisher=Meta Stack Overflow |date= |accessdate=2012-08-27}}</ref> | |||
=== Moderators and election process === | |||
==References== | |||
Moderators are responsible for managing the site, such as by following up on flagged posts, locking and protecting posts, suspending users, and deleting the worst posts (including misinformation) on the site. According to the Stack Exchange philosophy, they should be minimally involved in the site. They are also expected to lead by example, as well as to show respect to other users.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Who are the site moderators, and what is their role here? - Help Center|url=https://stackoverflow.com/help/site-moderators|access-date=2021-07-05|website=Stack Overflow|archive-date=July 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210705033200/https://stackoverflow.com/help/site-moderators|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
{{Reflist|2}} | |||
To become a moderator, users have to participate in an election. Elections are called as needed by the Stack Exchange Community Team for a designated number of seats. Users must first nominate themselves and have at least 300 reputation (3,000 on Stack Overflow and 1,000 on Math Stack Exchange), while also being in good standing, such as not having been suspended during the past year. Aside from introducing themselves and explaining why they would be a good moderator, users must also answer questions written by the community. Nominations can be withdrawn at any time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=There's an election going on. What's happening and how does it work?|url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/135360/theres-an-election-going-on-whats-happening-and-how-does-it-work|access-date=2021-07-05|website=Meta Stack Exchange|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184556/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/135360/theres-an-election-going-on-whats-happening-and-how-does-it-work|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
==External links== | |||
* | |||
After this, users vote on the candidates in a primary, where the vote tally is made public. The top 10 nominees advance to the election stage, where any user with at least 150 reputation is allowed to vote. A ranked-choice voting system is used where users can rank all the candidates if they wish. Votes are tallied using the Meek STV method (single transferable vote) which allows fractional parts of a vote to be counted.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Could we please clarify just the Primary phase of the election?|url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/221668/could-we-please-clarify-just-the-primary-phase-of-the-election|access-date=2021-07-05|website=Meta Stack Exchange|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183134/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/221668/could-we-please-clarify-just-the-primary-phase-of-the-election|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
=== Bounties === | |||
Stack Exchange allows users to donate some of their reputation to help questions receive answers or better answers, as well as to incentivize users to answer. This is called a 'bounty' and can be applied on questions 48 hours after being asked, lasting for 7 days plus a grace period of 24 hours. The minimum bounty is set at 50 reputation, except if the user has already answered the question or has offered a previous bounty on the question. Bounties cannot be cancelled, and reputation cannot be refunded from a bounty, even if the question did not receive an answer.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Co-Founder|first=Jeff Atwood|date=2010-06-19|title=Improvements to Bounty System|url=https://stackoverflow.blog/2010/06/19/improvements-to-bounty-system/|access-date=2021-07-05|website=Stack Overflow Blog|language=en-US|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190333/https://stackoverflow.blog/2010/06/19/improvements-to-bounty-system/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=How does the bounty system work?|url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/16065/how-does-the-bounty-system-work|access-date=2021-07-05|website=Meta Stack Exchange|archive-date=July 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704165254/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/16065/how-does-the-bounty-system-work|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
== Technologies used == | |||
Stack Exchange uses ], ],<ref name="Technologies"/> and the ] framework,<ref name="Technologies"/> all from a single code base for every Stack Exchange site (except Area 51, which runs off a fork of the Stack Overflow code base).<ref>{{cite web |title=Does StackExchange 2.0 Share the Same CodeBase with SO? |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/55725/does-stackexchange-2-0-share-the-same-codebase-with-so/56213 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402081535/https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/55725/does-stackexchange-2-0-share-the-same-codebase-with-so/56213 |archive-date=April 2, 2017 |access-date=April 1, 2017 |website=Stack Meta}}</ref> Blogs formerly used ], but they have been discontinued.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/291741/we-will-no-longer-be-hosting-blog-overflow|title=We will no longer be hosting Blog Overflow|author=Grace Note|date=March 1, 2017|access-date=March 3, 2017|archive-date=March 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304041117/http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/291741/we-will-no-longer-be-hosting-blog-overflow|url-status=live}}</ref> The team also uses ], ] and ].<ref name="Technologies">{{cite web|url=http://nickcraver.com/blog/2013/11/22/what-it-takes-to-run-stack-overflow/|title=What it takes to run Stack Overflow|last1=Craver|first1=Nick|date=November 22, 2013|access-date=October 2, 2014|archive-date=November 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111194648/http://nickcraver.com/blog/2013/11/22/what-it-takes-to-run-stack-overflow/|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
Stack Exchange tries to stay up to date with the newest technologies from ], usually using the latest releases of any given framework. The code is primarily written in C# ASP.NET MVC using the ]. The preferred ] is ] and the data layers uses ] for data access.<ref>{{cite web|title=Stack Meta|url=http://meta.stackoverflow.com/a/10370/188517|publisher=Stack Meta}}</ref> | |||
The site makes use of ]s in addition to numeric ]s for question URLs. | |||
== Site creation process == | |||
Every new site created in the Stack Exchange Network goes through a detailed review process on a site called Area 51, that is consisting of four steps:<ref name="Area51" /><ref name="sitereview">{{cite journal|last=Sewak|first=M.|title=Finding a Growth Business Model at Stack Overflow, Inc.|journal=Stanford CasePublisher|date=May 18, 2010|volume=Rev. July 20, 2010|issue=2010–204–1|url=http://www.stanford.edu/class/ee204/Publications/Finding%20a%20Growth%20Business%20Model%20at%20Stack%20Overflow.pdf|access-date=May 23, 2014|page=31|publisher=Stanford University School of Engineering|id=204-2010-1|display-authors=etal|archive-date=August 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813013908/http://www.stanford.edu/class/ee204/Publications/Finding%20a%20Growth%20Business%20Model%20at%20Stack%20Overflow.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Changes to Stack Exchange – Stack Overflow Blog|date=April 13, 2010|url=https://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/04/changes-to-stack-exchange/#the-new-stack-exchange-site-creation-process|access-date=January 19, 2016|archive-date=January 26, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160126222019/https://blog.stackoverflow.com/2010/04/changes-to-stack-exchange/#the-new-stack-exchange-site-creation-process|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=All Proposals - Area 51 - Stack Exchange |url=https://area51.stackexchange.com/ |access-date=2023-07-28 |website=area51.stackexchange.com}}</ref> | |||
* Definition: A public proposal must be drafted and posted so that any member of the community can discuss the proposal and vote on it. This allows a collaborative proposal to emerge over time. The proposal must address these four key issues | |||
*# the topic of the site | |||
*# the targeted audience | |||
*# forty exemplary questions, upvoted at least 10 times from the community | |||
*# 60 followers from the community | |||
* Commitment: First, 200 users interested in the new site are asked to formally commit and support the site by actively participating and contributing to it by asking or answering 10 questions during the six months of the public beta. Second, 100 users interested in the new site that have committed with over 200 reputation on another site on the network. Finally, it requires a commitment score of 500, which uses the following formula:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Area 51 Commit Percent |url=https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/53650/area-51-commit-percent/53733#53733 |access-date=2023-07-28 |website=Meta Stack Exchange |language=en}}</ref> | |||
*# <code>PrelimScore = SUM(Reputation >= 200 ? 0.233 * ln(Reputation-101) - 0.75 : 0) + 1.5</code> | |||
*# <code>UserScore = PrelimScore * 0.9 ^ (DAYS / 180)</code> | |||
* Beta: A live test version of this site is tested out, in two steps. | |||
# Private Beta:If the concept receives 100% commitment (reaches the requirements listed above), the site enters the private beta phase, where committed members begin actively using the site and publicizing it. It must remain for at least 35 days (or 5 weeks). | |||
# Public Beta: The site is open to the public for a long period. This allows the creators to ensure that the site reaches critical mass before it is fully launched. It much remain for at least 180 days (or 6 months) of public beta, and 215 total days of beta (31 weeks). | |||
* Graduation: If the site has at least 1000 open questions, and 70% of questions or more have at least 1 upvoted answer, it is granted a "graduation" and fully launched.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAQ - Area 51 - Stack Exchange |url=https://area51.stackexchange.com/faq |access-date=2023-07-28 |website=area51.stackexchange.com}}</ref> | |||
== Notable users == | |||
=== Nobel Prize winners === | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://physics.stackexchange.com/users/11205/g-t-hooft |title=Gerard 't Hooft |website=physics.stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725220837/https://physics.stackexchange.com/users/11205/g-t-hooft |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=== Fields Medal winners === | |||
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}} | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/2944063/peter-scholze |title=Peter Scholze |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726211758/https://stackexchange.com/users/2944063/peter-scholze |url-status=live }}</ref> (2018) | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mathoverflow.net/users/38566/martin-hairer |title=Martin Hairer |website=mathoverflow.net |access-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726211455/https://mathoverflow.net/users/38566/martin-hairer |url-status=live }}</ref> (2014) | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/2940801/terry-tao |title=Terence Tao |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726005740/https://stackexchange.com/users/2940801/terry-tao |url-status=live }}</ref> (2006) | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mathoverflow.net/users/1459/gowers |title=Tim Gowers |website=mathoverflow.net |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807205429/https://mathoverflow.net/users/1459/gowers |url-status=live }}</ref> (1998) | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/2964161/curtis-mcmullen |title=Curtis McMullen |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-date=January 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120054729/https://stackexchange.com/users/2964161/curtis-mcmullen |url-status=live }}</ref> (1998) | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mathoverflow.net/users/51/richard-borcherds |title=Richard Borcherds |website=mathoverflow.net |access-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807204048/https://mathoverflow.net/users/51/richard-borcherds |url-status=live }}</ref> (1998) | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mathoverflow.net/users/97644/edward-witten |title=Edward Witten |website=mathoverflow.net |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726030016/https://mathoverflow.net/users/97644/edward-witten |url-status=live }}</ref> (1990) | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mathoverflow.net/users/5973/vaughan-jones |title=Vaughan Jones |website=mathoverflow.net |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726005740/https://mathoverflow.net/users/5973/vaughan-jones |url-status=live }}</ref> (1990) | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mathoverflow.net/users/58457/michael-freedman |title=Michael Freedman |website=mathoverflow.net |access-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807111301/https://mathoverflow.net/users/58457/michael-freedman |url-status=live }}</ref> (1986) | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mathoverflow.net/users/9062/bill-thurston |title=Bill Thurston |website=mathoverflow.net |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725214608/https://mathoverflow.net/users/9062/bill-thurston |url-status=live }}</ref> (1982) | |||
{{Div col end}} | |||
=== Founders === | |||
* ] (co-founder of ])<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/4/joel-spolsky |title=Joel Spolsky |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=May 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506223514/http://stackexchange.com/users/4/joel-spolsky |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ] (co-founder of Stack Overflow)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/1/jeff-atwood |title=Jeff Attwood |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=March 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306220251/https://stackexchange.com/users/1/jeff-atwood |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ] (co-founder of ])<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/1949728/ravi-vakil |title=Ravi Vakil |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726012310/https://stackexchange.com/users/1949728/ravi-vakil |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
=== Other notable scientists and mathematicians === | |||
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}} | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cstheory.stackexchange.com/users/1575/scott-aaronson | title=Scott Aaronson | website=stackexchange.com | access-date=January 26, 2022 | archive-date=January 26, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126061303/https://cstheory.stackexchange.com/users/1575/scott-aaronson | url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/1519709/ian-agol |title=Ian Agol |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725234657/https://stackexchange.com/users/1519709/ian-agol |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/935887/john-baez |title=John Baez |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725221647/https://stackexchange.com/users/935887/john-baez |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/2947482/carlo-beenakker |title=Carlo Beenakker |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725234104/https://stackexchange.com/users/2947482/carlo-beenakker |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/2019795/andreas-blass |title=Andreas Blass |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725221915/https://stackexchange.com/users/2019795/andreas-blass |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/2949394/robert-bryant |title=Robert Bryant |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725221307/https://stackexchange.com/users/2949394/robert-bryant |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/844828/noam-d-elkies |title=Noam Elkies |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725213831/https://stackexchange.com/users/844828/noam-d-elkies |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/505076/emerton |title=Matthew Emerton |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725221842/https://stackexchange.com/users/505076/emerton |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url= https://cstheory.stackexchange.com/users/95/david-eppstein |title= David Eppstein |website= stackexchange.com |access-date=September 12, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240523180004/https://cstheory.stackexchange.com/users/95/david-eppstein |archive-date= 2024-05-23 |url-status= live }}</ref> (inventor of ]) | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/2958032/alexandre-eremenko |title=Alexandre Eremenko |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725234633/https://stackexchange.com/users/2958032/alexandre-eremenko |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ] (top user on ])<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/510234/joel-david-hamkins |title=Joesl David Hamkins |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725215703/https://stackexchange.com/users/510234/joel-david-hamkins |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/2942911/jim-humphreys |title=James E. Humphreys |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725220441/https://stackexchange.com/users/2942911/jim-humphreys |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/509527/gil-kalai |title=Gil Kalai |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726030118/https://stackexchange.com/users/509527/gil-kalai |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/18596425/annakrylov |title=Anna Krylov |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725214755/https://stackexchange.com/users/18596425/annakrylov |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/79585/greg-kuperberg |title=Greg Kuperberg |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725215207/https://stackexchange.com/users/79585/greg-kuperberg |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ] (inventor of ])<ref>{{cite web|title=Tim Peters |website=stackexchange.com |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/3204170/tim-peters|access-date=June 14, 2023 |archive-date=September 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910103028/http://stackexchange.com/users/3204170/tim-peters |url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/164785/joseph-orourke |title=Joseph O'Rourke |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726060756/https://stackexchange.com/users/164785/joseph-orourke |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/1790716/igor-rivin |title=Igor Rivin |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=August 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810233659/https://stackexchange.com/users/1790716/igor-rivin |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ] (creator of ])<ref>{{cite web | url=https://stackoverflow.com/users/818274/guido-van-rossum | title=Guido van Rossum | website=stackoverflow.com | access-date=October 1, 2024 | archive-date=October 1, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241001101041/stackoverflow.com/users/818274/guido-van-rossum | url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://physics.stackexchange.com/users/165299/anders-sandberg | title=Anders Sandberg | website=stackexchange.com | access-date=January 26, 2022 | archive-date=January 26, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126061303/https://physics.stackexchange.com/users/165299/anders-sandberg | url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ] (computer scientist with ] of one)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/523124/jeffrey-shallit |title=Jeffrey Shallit |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=August 30, 2020 |archive-date=September 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921061938/https://stackexchange.com/users/523124/jeffrey-shallit |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ] (inventor of ])<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/508412/peter-shor |title=Peter Shor |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725220805/https://stackexchange.com/users/508412/peter-shor |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
* ]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://stackexchange.com/users/409053/mike-shulman |title=Michael Shulman |website=stackexchange.com |access-date=July 25, 2020 |archive-date=July 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726025754/https://stackexchange.com/users/409053/mike-shulman |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
{{Div col end}} | |||
== See also == | |||
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== References == | |||
{{reflist}} | |||
== External links == | |||
* {{Official website}} | |||
* | |||
* on ] | |||
{{Fog Creek Software}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 12:06, 21 November 2024
Not to be confused with Stock Exchange. Network of Q&A sites based in New York City This article is about the network of collaborative Q&A sites. For the first site in the network, see Stack Overflow. "Super User" redirects here. For a user account with special privileges, see superuser.
Type of site | |
---|---|
Owner | Prosus N.V. |
Created by | |
URL | stackexchange |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | Yes |
Launched | September 2009; 15 years ago (2009-09) (relaunched in January 2011) |
Content license | User contributions under CC BY-SA 2.5, 3.0, and 4.0 |
Stack Exchange is a network of question-and-answer (Q&A) websites on topics in diverse fields, each site covering a specific topic, where questions, answers, and users are subject to a reputation award process. The reputation system allows the sites to be self-moderating. As of March 2023, the three most actively viewed sites in the network are Stack Overflow (which focuses on computer programming), Unix & Linux, and Mathematics.
All sites in the network are modeled after the initial site Stack Overflow which was created by Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky in 2008. Further Q&A sites in the network are established, defined, and eventually – if found relevant – brought to creation by registered users through a special site named Area 51.
User contributions since May 2, 2018 are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International. Older content, contributed while the site used the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license or the earlier Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 Unported license, remains licensed under the license in force at the time it was contributed.
In June 2021, Prosus acquired Stack Overflow for $1.8 billion, its first complete acquisition in the area of educational technology.
History
Founding and growth
In 2008, Jeff Atwood and Joel Spolsky created Stack Overflow, a question-and-answer website for computer programming questions, which they described as an alternative to the programmer forum Experts-Exchange. 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.
In September 2009, Spolsky's company, Fog Creek Software, released a beta version of the Stack Exchange 1.0 platform as a way for third parties to create their own communities based on the software behind Stack Overflow, with monthly fees. This white label service was not successful, with few customers and slow growing communities.
In May 2010, Stack Overflow (as its own new company) raised US$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, Stack Exchange 2.0. Users vote on new site topics in a staging area called Area 51, where algorithms determine which suggested site topics have critical mass and should be created. In November 2010, Stack Exchange site topics in "beta testing" included physics, mathematics, and writing. Stack Exchange publicly launched in January 2011 with 33 Web sites; it had 27 employees and 1.5 million users at the time, and it included advertising. At that time, it was compared to Quora, founded in 2009, which similarly specializes in expert answers. Other competing sites include WikiAnswers and Yahoo! Answers.
In February 2011, Stack Overflow released an associated job board called Careers 2.0, charging fees to recruiters for access, which later re-branded to Stack Overflow Careers. In March 2011, Stack Overflow raised US$12 million in additional venture funding, and the company renamed itself to Stack Exchange, Inc. It is based in Manhattan. In February 2012, Atwood left the company.
On April 18, 2013 CipherCloud issued Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notices in an attempt to block discussion of possible weaknesses of their encryption algorithm. The Stack Exchange Crypto group discussion on the algorithm was censored, but it was later restored without pictures.
As of September 2015, "Stack Exchange" no longer refers to the company, only the network of question-and-answer websites. Instead, the company is now referred to as Stack Overflow.
In 2016, Stack Exchange added a variety of new sites which pushed the boundaries of the typical question-and-answer site. For example, Puzzling offers a platform for users who already know the answer to questions to challenge their peers to solve the problems unlike traditional Q–A sites where the poster does not know the answer.
Declining relationship between users and company
This section may contain improper references to user-generated content. Please help improve it by removing references to unreliable sources, where they are used inappropriately. (March 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In 2016, Stack Exchange announced the second iteration of the Stack Exchange Quality Project, in which they attempt to implement specific important features requested by the community to meet a distinct high-priority set of goals. After users enthusiastically responded with feature ideas, they complained that there was insufficient action on the company's part.
In October 2018, the company removed its Interpersonal Skills site from the Hot Network Questions list after a complaint on Twitter, and an employee (who was part of the SRE team, which was not community-facing) posted tweets attacking moderators.
Late 2019 controversies
This section relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this section by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (October 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
To start, in June 2019, more advertisements were added causing a large dispute. On September 27, 2019, a moderator of multiple Stack Exchange sites, specifically Monica Cellio, was dismissed from her moderator position, allegedly connected to behavior associated with upcoming changes to the Code of Conduct (CoC) relating to gender pronouns. Many other moderators resigned or suspended their moderator activity in response to the dismissal. The company responded with two very poorly received messages which have since been deleted, and by a slightly less negatively-received apology several days later. In December 2019, the company posted a message, stating that they and the moderator had come to an agreement and expressing regret for any damage to her reputation. Nevertheless, this, plus the sudden departure of multiple community managers (Stack Exchange employees who interact with the community), led to an erosion of trust between the community and the company—convincing many of the site's most prolific users, including many community-elected moderators and a community manager, to depart within the next few months.
2019–2020 licensing change announcements
On September 2, 2019, the terms of service (and the footer of every page served) changed to referencing the "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike" (CC BY-SA) license's 4.0 version instead of its 3.0 version. Users were puzzled as to how Stack Overflow acquired the rights for this relicensing of their past contributions, with some users explicitly stating that they did not intend their contributions to be licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Users were concerned that, if the relicensing was found to be a breach of CC BY-SA 3.0, Stack Exchange would have made itself unable to distribute the content under any CC BY-SA license (and that the footer's license statement could be erroneous), and would have to rely on its "perpetual and irrevocable right and license to use, copy, cache, publish, display, distribute, modify, create derivative works and store" the content instead. On September 27, an official Stack Exchange reply stated it had been an "important step", but declined to discuss with the community the legal basis for the relicensing.
In March 2020, a post announced that content contributed before May 2, 2018 was available under a CC BY-SA 3.0 license. In the ensuing discussion, several users asked about the similar situation in August 2010, when Stack Exchange switched from accepting CC BY-SA 2.5 contributions to 3.0. A representative of the corporation noted "we are looking to show v2.5 for posts predating this change but cannot commit to it yet". Some users were unconvinced that the September 2019 announcement was not a breach of CC BY-SA 3.0 that would have caused its termination, and some answers were not placated by the dateline chosen. In the ensuing discussion, Stack Overflow staff declined to comment.
June - August 2023 moderation strike
In mid-2023, Stack Exchange made several changes regarding its policies around content generated by artificial intelligence which resulted in a strike of a portion of its volunteer moderators. The protest centered around a policy posted to moderators on May 29 stating that the use of AI-detection tools were not permitted to be used as part of moderation. In a statement, Stack Exchange confirmed that 11% of moderators had ceased content moderation in response to this policy. This would grow to more than 23% of all moderators on the network by June 22, including more than 70% of all Stack Overflow moderators.
The strike began with a post to Meta Stack Exchange, which raised concerns regarding the quality and accuracy of AI-generated content, and the lack of transparency from Stack Exchange surrounding this policy change. Moderators also stated that the version of the policy released to the public differed from the version they had received on the moderator-only forum, notably in that the public version did not include language requiring that moderators stop restricting all AI content.
Negotiations between Stack Exchange and moderators resulted in new policies allowing moderators to remove AI content when there is a strong indicator of GPT usage, and a commitment from the site to continue to provide data and API access. At the conclusion of negotiations, the strike ended on August 2, 2023.
Site features
Reputation and badges
The primary purpose of each Stack Exchange site is to enable users to post questions and answer them. Users can vote on both answers and questions, and through this process users earn reputation points, a form of gamification. This voting system was compared to Digg when the Stack Exchange platform was first released. 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. Due to the prominence of Stack Exchange profiles in web search results and the Stack Overflow Careers job board, users may have reason to game the system. Along with posting questions and answers, users can add comments to them and edit text written by others. 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.
Badges are awarded for asking and answering, participating in meta, and for moderating the site. There are bronze, silver and gold badges and appear on users' profile pages as well as their posts.
Moderators and election process
Moderators are responsible for managing the site, such as by following up on flagged posts, locking and protecting posts, suspending users, and deleting the worst posts (including misinformation) on the site. According to the Stack Exchange philosophy, they should be minimally involved in the site. They are also expected to lead by example, as well as to show respect to other users.
To become a moderator, users have to participate in an election. Elections are called as needed by the Stack Exchange Community Team for a designated number of seats. Users must first nominate themselves and have at least 300 reputation (3,000 on Stack Overflow and 1,000 on Math Stack Exchange), while also being in good standing, such as not having been suspended during the past year. Aside from introducing themselves and explaining why they would be a good moderator, users must also answer questions written by the community. Nominations can be withdrawn at any time.
After this, users vote on the candidates in a primary, where the vote tally is made public. The top 10 nominees advance to the election stage, where any user with at least 150 reputation is allowed to vote. A ranked-choice voting system is used where users can rank all the candidates if they wish. Votes are tallied using the Meek STV method (single transferable vote) which allows fractional parts of a vote to be counted.
Bounties
Stack Exchange allows users to donate some of their reputation to help questions receive answers or better answers, as well as to incentivize users to answer. This is called a 'bounty' and can be applied on questions 48 hours after being asked, lasting for 7 days plus a grace period of 24 hours. The minimum bounty is set at 50 reputation, except if the user has already answered the question or has offered a previous bounty on the question. Bounties cannot be cancelled, and reputation cannot be refunded from a bounty, even if the question did not receive an answer.
Technologies used
Stack Exchange uses IIS, SQL Server, and the ASP.NET framework, all from a single code base for every Stack Exchange site (except Area 51, which runs off a fork of the Stack Overflow code base). Blogs formerly used WordPress, but they have been discontinued. The team also uses Redis, HAProxy and Elasticsearch.
Stack Exchange tries to stay up to date with the newest technologies from Microsoft, usually using the latest releases of any given framework. The code is primarily written in C# ASP.NET MVC using the Razor View Engine. The preferred IDE is Visual Studio and the data layers uses Dapper for data access.
The site makes use of URL slugs in addition to numeric identifiers for question URLs.
Site creation process
Every new site created in the Stack Exchange Network goes through a detailed review process on a site called Area 51, that is consisting of four steps:
- Definition: A public proposal must be drafted and posted so that any member of the community can discuss the proposal and vote on it. This allows a collaborative proposal to emerge over time. The proposal must address these four key issues
- the topic of the site
- the targeted audience
- forty exemplary questions, upvoted at least 10 times from the community
- 60 followers from the community
- Commitment: First, 200 users interested in the new site are asked to formally commit and support the site by actively participating and contributing to it by asking or answering 10 questions during the FIRDR six months of the public beta. Second, 100 users interested in the new site that have committed with over 200 reputation on another site on the network. Finally, it requires a commitment score of 500, which uses the following formula:
PrelimScore = SUM(Reputation >= 200 ? 0.233 * ln(Reputation-101) - 0.75 : 0) + 1.5
UserScore = PrelimScore * 0.9 ^ (DAYS / 180)
- Beta: A live test version of this site is tested out, in two steps.
- Private Beta:If the concept receives 100% commitment (reaches the requirements listed above), the site enters the private beta phase, where committed members begin actively using the site and publicizing it. It must remain for at least 35 days (or 5 weeks).
- Public Beta: The site is open to the public for a long period. This allows the creators to ensure that the site reaches critical mass before it is fully launched. It much remain for at least 180 days (or 6 months) of public beta, and 215 total days of beta (31 weeks).
- Graduation: If the site has at least 1000 open questions, and 70% of questions or more have at least 1 upvoted answer, it is granted a "graduation" and fully launched.
Notable users
Nobel Prize winners
Fields Medal winners
- Peter Scholze (2018)
- Martin Hairer (2014)
- Terence Tao (2006)
- Tim Gowers (1998)
- Curtis McMullen (1998)
- Richard Borcherds (1998)
- Edward Witten (1990)
- Vaughan Jones (1990)
- Michael Freedman (1986)
- William Thurston (1982)
Founders
- Joel Spolsky (co-founder of Stack Overflow)
- Jeff Atwood (co-founder of Stack Overflow)
- Ravi Vakil (co-founder of MathOverflow)
Other notable scientists and mathematicians
- Scott Aaronson
- Ian Agol
- John Baez
- Carlo Beenakker
- Andreas Blass
- Robert Bryant
- Noam Elkies
- Matthew Emerton
- David Eppstein (inventor of Eppstein's algorithm)
- Alexandre Eremenko
- Joel David Hamkins (top user on MathOverflow)
- James E. Humphreys
- Gil Kalai
- Anna Krylov
- Greg Kuperberg
- Tim Peters (software engineer) (inventor of Timsort)
- Joseph O'Rourke
- Igor Rivin
- Guido van Rossum (creator of Python)
- Anders Sandberg
- Jeffrey Shallit (computer scientist with Erdos number of one)
- Peter Shor (inventor of Shor's algorithm)
- Michael Shulman
See also
References
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- ^ "Stack Exchange and Stack Overflow are moving to CC BY-SA 4.0". meta.stackexchange.com. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
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- Jenna Wortham (February 6, 2011). "The Answers Are Out There, and New Q. and A. Sites Dig Them Up". New York Times. Archived from the original on August 16, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
- ^ Needleman, Rafe (February 23, 2011). "Stack Exchange launches programmer recruiting site". CNet. Archived from the original on March 30, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
- Ha, Anthony (March 9, 2011). "Q&A startup Stack Overflow gets new name, more funding". VentureBeat. Reuters. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
- Kim, Ryan (February 16, 2011). "Stack Overflow Rides Experts & Order to Q&A Success". GigaOM. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
- ^ Finley, Klint (July 5, 2012). "Stack Overflow Man Remakes Net One Answer at a Time". Enterprise. Wired. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
- "CipherCloud used DMCA Takedown on StackExchange discussion of the cryptography". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
- "CipherCloud Invokes DMCA To Block Discussions of Its Crypto System". April 21, 2013. Archived from the original on January 12, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
- "How is CipherCloud doing homomorphic encryption".
- Hanlon, Jay (September 15, 2015). "We're Changing Our Name (Back) to Stack Overflow". Stack Overflow Blog. Archived from the original on April 2, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2017.
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{{cite web}}
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External links
- Official website
- List of Stack Exchange sites
- Stack Exchange monthly archive of sites on Internet Archive
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