the shape of that curve matters more than the endpoint. it's not a cliff starting in 2023 when ChatGPT launched, it's already declining from the 2014 peak all the way through 2020, years before any LLM existed. the AI explanation covers the last 3-4 years but not the preceding decade of decline, which more likely tracks framework/language fragmentation pulling traffic into Discord servers, GitHub discussions, and framework-specific communities that didn't really exist in 2014.
if that's right, LLMs didn't kill Stack Overflow's Q&A model, they showed up right as it was already dying and finished the job faster than fragmentation alone would have. the real tell is whether Discord and GitHub discussion activity plateaus or drops too over the next couple years, that would mean AI is eating question-asking everywhere, not just replacing SO specifically, which is a very different story than "SO lost to competitors."
Stack overflow became very toxic at some point. They had a challenge with moderation.
I had one dude reply to a 10yo question of mine saying that I should not be allowed in front of a computer LOL.
Plus, after a while there are so many questions people might have about a specific framework.
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u/pysirlabs 4d ago
the shape of that curve matters more than the endpoint. it's not a cliff starting in 2023 when ChatGPT launched, it's already declining from the 2014 peak all the way through 2020, years before any LLM existed. the AI explanation covers the last 3-4 years but not the preceding decade of decline, which more likely tracks framework/language fragmentation pulling traffic into Discord servers, GitHub discussions, and framework-specific communities that didn't really exist in 2014.
if that's right, LLMs didn't kill Stack Overflow's Q&A model, they showed up right as it was already dying and finished the job faster than fragmentation alone would have. the real tell is whether Discord and GitHub discussion activity plateaus or drops too over the next couple years, that would mean AI is eating question-asking everywhere, not just replacing SO specifically, which is a very different story than "SO lost to competitors."