Stack Overflow Changes Reputation Policies for Issues

Disclaimer: Today I went to the Stack Overflow website, and noticed that the user rating had changed for the better. To find the answer to the question, which could affect the user's rating, I found a blog post that describes the changes in the Stack Overflow policy.



In my first article, I wrote what the Stack Overflow community taught me. Then I expressed the idea that we will take a step back and review the points that relate to how we get feedback, how we can improve the quality of the content and how we can reduce the disagreement between people. Also, our goal was to make the process of creating questions less painful, both for new participants and for the old people of the platform.



During the reappraisal of our values, we noticed a discrepancy in our system of awarding reputation. Namely, that we give ten reputation points per vote in the answer to the question, and only five reputation points per vote in the question.



A bit of history. When Stack Overflow was launched in 2008, we gave the same amount of reputation for both questions and answers. Three years later, it was decided to devalue the reputation for questions, thereby pushing the community for better answers than creating questions on the platform.



Looking back and analyzing the decision made in the past, this decision was correct, since it was based on the information that we had at that time. Now, we see what effect this has brought to our community today. We have awarded our community higher answers than questions.



As a user and an old member of the Stack Overflow community, as well as many of you, I understand how difficult it is to ask quality questions! You must carefully and carefully convey the contents of your problem. You need to roll back a couple of steps, and explain the problem to a stranger so that he fully understands the context of your question and can reproduce it.



It is also necessary to understand which part of the error does not need to include the question, since it can be unique only for you, and does not apply to the question. You must provide all the steps that you have taken and what results you have at the moment. In short, you must be an expert in creating a good question in order to get a good answer. These are the skills that come with experience. And they are very important. This is what we want to celebrate!

Today we go back and change the number of reputations from five to ten per vote in the question, thereby making equal to the reputation for the voice in the answer.



We will recount the reputation for all users of the StackOverflow and Stack Exchange sites. Each question that has a vote will be recounted at ten reputation points retroactively.



We expect that on Stack Overflow, around 2.4 million members will change their reputation in a big way. This change is not only about reputation, but a statement to the community that we welcome people who create questions. Hooray!



With increased reputation, some users will receive new privileges. And we ask you to treat new privileges responsibly. You are experts in creating questions. You are one of those people who can determine which question is in difficulty, and how difficult it is on the other side, creating questions. Thank you in advance for delicately teaching participants to ask questions.



We believe that questions and answers are vital in our platform. We value everyone for their contribution and effort to create the largest repository of technical questions and answers in history.



I said this before, and I will not get tired of talking about it, we are all working to improve the user experience for all Stack Overflow participants, from beginners who are studying front-end for the first time, to our esteemed moderators who have over 20 years of experience development in the industry. These changes to increase the reputation for voice in the issue, together with the new feedback mechanism that will be announced shortly, will lay an exciting start in the community to build a better Stack Overflow.