I could implement that completely necessary feature, or I could visit the unanswered questions section of FogBugz.StackExchange.com and make some customers happy. Hmmmmm.
StackExchange is starting to eclipse my devotion to Reddit. StackOverflow has always been a fun place to visit and learn new things about stuff, and answering questions there can be fun.
But now, there’s FogBugz.Stackexchange.com… and I’m a FogBugz developer, one of a small bunch, and I can answer nearly any question there. And people are happy when I do, and they’re charismatic and graceful, and they teach me new things about the product that I’m developing for them.
I can ask them questions, too!
Oh community, says I, What would you like?
And they tell me.
It’s dangerous. I’ve begun avoiding SE during work hours. Unless there’s a question which is too specific to me for others to easily handle, I leave it alone until I’m in a state such that I’m positive no code may come forthwith.
It’s cutting down on my workload, though, so maybe I shouldn’t have that aversion: If ever I answer a question via email, I then immediately post-and-answer that same question on StackExchange. If I’ve solved a problem, I put the workaround on StackExchange alongside the deployment estimate for the fix. People with the same problem find it there, use what’s provided, and the universe becomes more efficient.
Since we’ve begun using FogBugz.StackExchange.com as our support platform, I’ve never answered the same question twice. We even have an internal SE server which we use for non-public-facing Q&A, and the same principles apply there.
For all purposes outside of product specs, I think corporate wiki’s and discussion forms have been dealt a fatal blow.
At the risk of binding memely connotations to this post, and with full respect and awareness of Reddit’s one-epic-per-year ideology… epic win.
I’m sorry, what that too lame? Perhaps you’d prefer awesome face.
[Edit: Peppering the article with links was bugging me, so I’ve consolidated the non-contextual ones in order to streamline workflow:
- StackExchange – The platform
- Stack Overflow – The poster child of the platform
- FogBugz.Stackexchange – Our instance of the platform
]
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