Hi Zac, These are some great points!
On Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 1:01 PM, Zac Bowling <zbowl...@gmail.com> wrote: > Basic questions get answered usually here just as long as they are not > obvious questions on the Wiki. :-) That doesn't really mean they shouldn't be answered at all. If new members of the community are primarily directed to Stack Overflow junior members of the community can gain recognition while learning more for themselves by answering these kinds of of questions. > Stack Overflow has a lot of overflow (no pun) with other development > communities. You see a lot of questions around how to use the twitter API > with specific languages or frameworks on Stack Overflow rather then the > twitter API specifically itself. And those questions also come here. The organisation of Stack Overflow means that once properly tagged they shouldn't cause too much noise for the rest of us. > More often then not, this list is usually filled with people that understand > their platform well enough and past the basics of the API and are trying to > maintain or develop larger twitter related projects these days. The > questions that come up are usually around the lesser accessed/less trivial > APIs (streaming, social graph, and oauth to some extent) or by people that > need understanding on rate limiting or white-listing with the API that only > the twitter devs maybe able to help with, or sometimes just to discuss > changes in the API or bugs that popup as things happen. > Stack Overflow is awesome but it's not a good platform for what goes on > here. I'm not saying Stack Overflow can replace everything that goes on here. My concern is that if the Q&A / support posts continue grow in volume the list may become too noisy for some of the higher level discussion to continue effectively. Jon. > Zac Bowling > > On Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 4:13 AM, Jonathan Markwell <j.l.markw...@inuda.com> > wrote: >> >> Hi Ken, Andrew, >> >> Thank you for your thoughts! I had considered a Stack Exchange and >> have set up a couple of experimental Q&A communities using it. After >> the seeing what the Android and Adbobe teams are doing I think it >> makes much more sense to keep the programming discussion in one place >> on and avoid splitting the community. >> >> I've not experienced the problems new developers may have with getting >> started with Stack Overflow. While I'd like to think of the Twitter >> Platform as being a perfect starting point for new developers trying >> there hand at using web APIs, I think a key skill all programmers need >> to learn first is how to find existing solutions to problems. If a new >> developer finds it difficult participating in Stack Overflow vs. >> posting to a mailing list, they are likely to become a very high >> maintenance member of the community. Unfortunately looking back at >> the archives of this group it looks like many newbie questions go >> unanswered. That is far less likely to happen on Stack Overflow as >> there are incentives for people of all levels of expertise to help >> each other. >> >> Stack Overflow looks like a great opportunity to bring developer >> communities together which will ultimately be better for all of us. >> We've seen a number of language specific questions pop up here that >> the wider Stack Overflow community would probably do a much better job >> of answering. In addition, comparing discussions around different >> platforms side by side in Stack Overflow may increasingly influence >> developers trying to decide which platform (Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn) >> to integrate with first. I think we'd fair very well here and the more >> open competition between the communities will help highlight areas >> which should be prioritised for improvement. >> >> Jon. >> >> On Tue, Dec 29, 2009 at 6:30 AM, Ken Dobruskin <k...@cimas.ch> wrote: >> >> It seems like creating a stackexchange would just split the support >> >> power. >> > >> > +1, totally. >> > >> >> One issue I've noticed with Stackoverflow is it is harder for new >> >> developers to participate where as the barrier for entry on Google >> >> Groups is >> >> just having an email address. >> > Some email groups can be very tough on newbies and this can change (ie, >> > get >> > worse) over time as there are no posted rules/policy. In my view, stack >> > exchange is well conceived to avoid the trap of a harsh expert user >> > playing >> > the troll and shutting out new users. There is also a place for rules, >> > and >> > if desired a meta-Q&A for discussion of the discussion. I agree though >> > that >> > it should be up to Twitter to provide this environment. >> > >> > Ken >> > >> > >> >> Abraham >> > On Mon, Dec 28, 2009 at 21:40, Ken Dobruskin <k...@cimas.ch> wrote: >> > >> > Jonathan, >> > >> > Good points and initiative. >> > >> >> >> >> I do not believe Twitter have the resources to recreate the success of >> >> Stack Overflow for Q&A purposes. >> > >> > Have you considered setting up a Twitter Dev Q&A beta site on >> > stackexchange.com? I have, and someone probably could, but I thought I'd >> > wait and see what the official Twitter development platform had to offer >> > before doing that! >> > >> > Ken >> > >> > >> > ________________________________ >> > Windows Live: Keep your friends up to date with what you do online. >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Abraham Williams | Awesome Lists | http://awesomeli.st >> > Project | Intersect | http://intersect.labs.poseurtech.com >> > Hacker | http://abrah.am | http://twitter.com/abraham >> > This email is: [ ] shareable [x] ask first [ ] private. >> > Sent from Madison, WI, United States >> > ________________________________ >> > Windows Live: Make it easier for your friends to see what you’re up to >> > on >> > Facebook. >> >> >> >> -- >> Jonathan Markwell >> Engineer | Founder | Connector >> >> Inuda Innovations Ltd, Brighton, UK >> >> Web application development & support >> Twitter & Facebook integration specialists >> http://inuda.com >> >> Organising the world's first events for the Twitter developer Community >> http://TwitterDeveloperNest.com >> >> Providing a nice little place to work in the middle of Brighton - >> http://theskiff.org >> >> Measuring your brand's visibility on the social web - >> http://HowSociable.com >> >> mob: 07766 021 485 | tel: 01273 704 549 | fax: 01273 376 953 >> skype: jlmarkwell | twitter: http://twitter.com/jot > > -- Jonathan Markwell Engineer | Founder | Connector Inuda Innovations Ltd, Brighton, UK Web application development & support Twitter & Facebook integration specialists http://inuda.com Organising the world's first events for the Twitter developer Community http://TwitterDeveloperNest.com Providing a nice little place to work in the middle of Brighton - http://theskiff.org Measuring your brand's visibility on the social web - http://HowSociable.com mob: 07766 021 485 | tel: 01273 704 549 | fax: 01273 376 953 skype: jlmarkwell | twitter: http://twitter.com/jot
