Title: Page 84 – Alex Kirk

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 * 
   ## 󠀁[Wow, since when does @kayak…](https://alex.kirk.at/2014/06/12/wow-since-when-does-kayak/)󠁿
   
 * June 12, 2014
 * Wow, since when does @kayak show train connections as flying alternatives within
   Europe? Very nice!
 * [Twitter](https://alex.kirk.at/category/twitter/)
 * 
   ## 󠀁[Stack Overflow: Ways out of the negativity](https://alex.kirk.at/2014/04/26/stack-overflow-ways-out-of-the-negativity/)󠁿
   
 * April 26, 2014
 * This is in response to the Stack Overflow Meta question: [Why is Stack Overflow so negative of late?](http://meta.stackoverflow.com/q/251758/578588)
 * In my opinion the problem that Stack Overflow is currently facing is caused by
   a lot of new users that are characterized by [user Mysticial](http://meta.stackoverflow.com/a/252077/578588)
   as "help vampires". **They care nothing for the site and just want their code
   fixed. They don’t research** (or very little) **and provide less than the minimum
   information needed.** Most of the times the questions are very basic and can 
   be answered by an intermediate programmer in a few minutes.
 * **In a normal forum, users would not yield any responses.** Not so on Stack Overflow:
   you get reputation for answering questions and therefore even theses badly researched
   questions get answers within under a minute. _Mystical_ calls these users "reputation
   whores".
 * The problem is that "help vampires" and "reputation whores" **create a vicious
   circle**: they both need each other and therefore the circle continues to spin.
 * The outcome of this situation: the site is flooded with a high number of low 
   quality questions, **experienced programmers who are interested in learning something
   don’t see the forrest for the trees.** Even though questions can be voted up,
   they don’t stand out enough to gain momentum.
 * 
   ### Proposed Solutions
   
 * 
   #### a) Create a "beginners test"
   
 * This would **create a higher burden** for low reputation users before they can**
   ask their question**. They need to invest more time and rethink their action 
   before they get to post something.
 * A few ideas what that could be:
    - The user needs to give 3 search queries that he used either on Google or on
      Stack Overflow that didn’t yield results.
    - If they don’t include any code, they must confirm that they are asking a non-
      code question. See this proposal on [Stack Exchange Meta](http://meta.stackexchange.com/q/228072/175377).
    - Specify the time that they took to research the problem (while this can be
      easily faked, it makes the user reconsider if they had taken enough time for
      the problem)
 * 
   #### b) Have experienced users review a question, before it goes online
   
 * There would be a process where a new user asks his or her question, **but it 
   doesn’t go online**. Higher reputation users read the question but are **unable
   to answer it, and give feedback if the question has enough information** or has
   been researched enough. Finally, the question get’s thrown into the shark tank.
 * It would be fine to give these reviewing higher reputation users even more reputation
   for reviewing this: they are helping to improve the site, **this is actually 
   what the reputation system has been designed for: to make the site interesting**,
   not for feeding the "help vampires".
 * All in all it is remarkable that despite the current situation, Stack Overflow
   has reached the quality it has. The **reputation and badge system** has for sure
   been a **very big factor** in this but it is very appalling that in **order to
   reach a certain reputation level, you really have to feed the "help vampires"**.
 * You can find me on Stack Overflow as [akirk](http://stackoverflow.com/users/578588/akirk).
 * [Web](https://alex.kirk.at/category/web/)

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