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user49915
Posts: 81
Joined: Wed Apr 17, 2019 12:51 pm

Hello!

Post by user49915 »

Hello everyone! I'm moving away from stackexchange. There, I had nicknames user0 and user49915.

Stackexchange in general has several serious problems (not necessarily tex.stackexchange; they are in general the most pleasant of the stackexchange gang).

First, in most cases it is impossible to distinguish what the moderators say as users from what they say as moderators. They seldom make such a distinction in their posts themselves.

Second, the moderators sometimes act selectively, applying the tools the powers gave them in a biased way that depends on the moderator. Some moderators interpret the wording of the rules the way they currently like it. Whereas it is allowed for a normal user to ask questions about the interpretation, the moderators should have zero misinterpretation margin and a decision margin which is as small as possible.

Third, the posts of a low-reputation user are sometimes edited by higher-reputation users without notice (sometimes by the moderators and sometimes in the way that the OPer strongly disagrees with) in such a way that immediately upon editing, the OPer is prevented from reverting or re-editing: either the user is blocked or the question is locked. This can be discourteous and insulting to the OPer. The edit by a higher-rep user often changes the tone of a question, its meaning, or the corresponding voting behavior; any of this is often unintended and means that the OPer wasted their time instead of asking elsewhere. For the OPer, it is often even worse than a range of alternative options, such as removing the question altogether, downvoting it or closing it, which would be a clear indication that the question is unwanted or not well-accepted.

Fourth, some posts and comments become outdated (e.g., since the software evolved). Unless removed, such posts stay available to Web search engines, continuing to distract the readers' attention. There is no incentive to remove outdated posts, as it would decrease the reputation of the OPers.

Fifth, Stackexchange is addicting. Several excellent TeXnicians have been addicted to SE and are running competitions for ticks and scores, whereas these numbers bring them little to nothing. Several users quit for exactly this medical reason.

Finally, Stackexchange is a monopoly. The more users it attracts, the stronger it gets. The powers can impose their viewpoints. Any high-level decision can potentially harm zillions of users.

I don't say that all of this is due to the nature of the people or their bad will. But, I do say that the system is broken.

Therefore, I removed all my contents I could remove at Stackexchange and stopped using it. I switched to latex.org/forum, texwelt.de, and golatex.de.

I strongly hope it does not actually happen here the way described.
Last edited by user49915 on Mon Apr 22, 2019 4:51 pm, edited 8 times in total.

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Johannes_B
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