A lot of the time, how quickly you can post your answer is the single most important factor in how many upvotes you'll get. It doesn't matter how thoroughly you research the topic. Too many answerers (#3 "repwhores") are trying to beat the clock, half of them don't even read the question. If you waste 30 seconds trying to format your code or making sure that your solution actually works in jsfiddle, two other people will have already answered the question and the OP might even have accepted one of them. You know what's even worse? While you're still writing your answer, a message pops up and helpfully tells you that this has happened. Thanks a lot! Stop writing and close the damn tab.
The whole system is rigged to discourage time-consuming research. The front page above the fold is always reserved for questions from the last 2-3 minutes, which sends a not-so-subtle message that if you can't grab someone's attention in the next 2-3 minutes, whatever you write will probably be buried forever.
A few years ago, I used to repwhore. It's addictive, but I quit. Now I prefer to write long-form, comprehensive, thoroughly researched answers. On HN I feel confident in doing so, because I know that the community encourages that kind of behavior. On SO I rarely post any answers anymore, because I'm pretty sure that nobody will read them if it takes more than a few minutes to read or write.
I usually upvote anyone that takes the time to answer my question reasonably (unless its obviously wrong, or not answering the question). Seems like courtesy to me, but I noticed that it doesn't usually get returned.
A lot of the time, how quickly you can post your answer is the single most important factor in how many upvotes you'll get. It doesn't matter how thoroughly you research the topic. Too many answerers (#3 "repwhores") are trying to beat the clock, half of them don't even read the question. If you waste 30 seconds trying to format your code or making sure that your solution actually works in jsfiddle, two other people will have already answered the question and the OP might even have accepted one of them. You know what's even worse? While you're still writing your answer, a message pops up and helpfully tells you that this has happened. Thanks a lot! Stop writing and close the damn tab.
The whole system is rigged to discourage time-consuming research. The front page above the fold is always reserved for questions from the last 2-3 minutes, which sends a not-so-subtle message that if you can't grab someone's attention in the next 2-3 minutes, whatever you write will probably be buried forever.
A few years ago, I used to repwhore. It's addictive, but I quit. Now I prefer to write long-form, comprehensive, thoroughly researched answers. On HN I feel confident in doing so, because I know that the community encourages that kind of behavior. On SO I rarely post any answers anymore, because I'm pretty sure that nobody will read them if it takes more than a few minutes to read or write.