Comments on: StackOverflow question statistics http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/04/15/stackoverflow-question-statistics/ The blog of John D. Cook Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:42:11 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Bill the Lizard http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/04/15/stackoverflow-question-statistics/comment-page-1/#comment-16020 Bill the Lizard Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:52:06 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/?p=2010#comment-16020 It may be the case that questions answered by high-reputation users <i>do</i> get a bit more traffic, but as you implied, it might just be due to correlation, not a causation. I know that Jon Skeet in particular is very active in the C# and .NET tags, the most popular on Stack Overflow, so questions that he answers will naturally get more views due to the popularity of those tags. Another possible source of 'Skeet' effect may be the RSS feeds available for each user. I've had a couple of people tell me they follow my feed, and I can imagine that users who specialize in popular tags amass a following. Jeff may be willing to provide you with data on how many people use the RSS feeds, and which feeds are most popular. It may be the case that questions answered by high-reputation users do get a bit more traffic, but as you implied, it might just be due to correlation, not a causation. I know that Jon Skeet in particular is very active in the C# and .NET tags, the most popular on Stack Overflow, so questions that he answers will naturally get more views due to the popularity of those tags.

Another possible source of ‘Skeet’ effect may be the RSS feeds available for each user. I’ve had a couple of people tell me they follow my feed, and I can imagine that users who specialize in popular tags amass a following. Jeff may be willing to provide you with data on how many people use the RSS feeds, and which feeds are most popular.

]]> By: John http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/04/15/stackoverflow-question-statistics/comment-page-1/#comment-16009 John Thu, 16 Apr 2009 07:53:10 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/?p=2010#comment-16009 Ben, I don't have the data to answer your question, but it seems plausible. Questions asked by high-reputation users might get more views because people recognize their names and are curious about what these folks are asking. Or maybe they'd get more views even if they could ask questions anonymously: presumably people with high reputation are in tune with what other users want to hear about. Ben, I don’t have the data to answer your question, but it seems plausible. Questions asked by high-reputation users might get more views because people recognize their names and are curious about what these folks are asking. Or maybe they’d get more views even if they could ask questions anonymously: presumably people with high reputation are in tune with what other users want to hear about.

]]> By: Ben http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2009/04/15/stackoverflow-question-statistics/comment-page-1/#comment-16002 Ben Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:32:34 +0000 http://www.johndcook.com/blog/?p=2010#comment-16002 A question I've asked myself is whether there is a 'Skeet' effect. Do questions that Jon Skeet (or other high-reputation users) answers get more views (and thus votes?) A question I’ve asked myself is whether there is a ‘Skeet’ effect. Do questions that Jon Skeet (or other high-reputation users) answers get more views (and thus votes?)

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